Senior US General in Europe set to retire amid Hegseth’s review of US support for NATO allies

By Haley Britzky, Zachary Cohen, Davis Winkie, CNN

(CNN) — A highly respected four-star Army general is stepping down from his post commanding soldiers in Europe and is slated to retire as he has thus far not been nominated for a new job consistent with his rank by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, multiple sources told CNN.

Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of US Army Europe and Africa, is relinquishing command on July 2, a US Army spokeswoman confirmed to CNN. A source familiar said Donahue’s stepping down has been in conversation for at least two months and said it was not an abrupt decision.

Donahue’s exit from the command coincides with the planned decision to lower the required rank for its chief from a four-star general to a three-star general and a series of moves by Hegseth to alter the US footprint in Europe.

Multiple sources told CNN that there has been tension between the Hegseth’s office and Donahue’s command, though not necessarily directly between the two men. Any high-profile publicity the Army received in Europe – even when generally positive or seemingly on-message with Hegseth’s priorities – “was not well received,” the second source familiar said.

Two sources familiar with the matter said Hegseth’s office has been critical of Donahue for some time. One of the sources said he has been labeled unfairly by some as an acolyte of retired Gen. Mark Milley, who has drawn intense ire from President Donald Trump, Hegseth, and some key figures in right-wing media, though the source said Donahue has retained plenty of support in the MAGA universe, particularly among those with special operations backgrounds.

Donahue has commanded the Army’s elite Delta Force and served in various other special operations units throughout his career. Before taking over US Army Europe and Africa, Donahue commanded the 82nd Airborne Division and then the 18th Airborne Corps out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina — two jobs typically reserved for promising senior Army officers.

There has also been some thinking from conservatives and officials around Hegseth that Donahue was responsible for the Afghanistan withdrawal, because he was commanding the 82nd Airborne Division at the time, which responded to the crisis in Kabul. Donahue was famously captured on camera walking off the tarmac and onto the last US aircraft leaving Kabul at the end of the chaotic withdrawal and dubbed the last US service member in Afghanistan.

One of the sources familiar likened placing the blame on Donahue to “blaming the fire department for showing up to the fire.”

Donahue declined to comment for this story through a command spokesperson. The Office of the Secretary of Defense directed questions to the Army.

Army spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith confirmed that Donahue was stepping down from command in July.

“The Army thanks Gen. Donahue for his leadership of US Army Europe and Africa.”

While Donahue has submitted his paperwork to retire, the sources familiar with his departure from US Army Europe and Africa said the Army has not yet made a final determination on whether to approve the retirement, meaning he could still be nominated to another position. The two sources familiar and a congressional aide said Donahue is still believed to be in the running for other four-star jobs, including chief of staff of the Army.

Several of the sources said other four-star positions, including commander of US Army Transformation and Training Command in Austin, Texas, or commander of a new unmanned systems command, were also being considered by the Pentagon.

Donahue’s deputy, Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, will perform the duties of US Army Europe and Africa commanding general until a permanent replacement is nominated, the US official said. Donahue will also relinquish command as the Allied Land Forces commander in a ceremony in Turkey on July 9, according to US Army Col. Martin O’Donnell, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe spokesperson. British Army Lt. Gen. Jez Bennett will serve as the acting commander until another American is assigned to the three-star role.

Donahue has long been rumored as a choice to eventually take over as the Army chief of staff, the top uniformed position for the service, though Hegseth has recently elevated his former senior military assistant Gen. Chris LaNeve to the role in an acting capacity, after firing Gen. Randy George. Hegseth’s selection of LaNeve over Donahue has rankled some of the military’s joint chiefs, the two sources familiar said.

“You spend your whole career being apolitical and doing the best job you can under civilian leadership that may or may not agree with you, only to watch the SecDef elevate people who have successfully sucked up to him — I imagine that feels like it cheapens their achievements,” one of the sources said.

Donahue is not expected to officially retire for roughly two months, sources told CNN, leaving time for Hegseth to select him for a new job. Upon Donahue’s departure, US Army Europe and Africa will transition to a three-star command. And while the transition has been anticipated for roughly a year, the change comes amid several other changes to the US military’s footprint in Europe, as the Trump administration has suggested that European countries should take primary responsibility for the defense of the continent.

In May, two US deployments to Europe were abruptly cancelled by Hegseth following criticism by Trump about support from European allies. The move received harsh backlash from members of Congress from both parties, who criticized the Defense Department for not communicating with lawmakers or European allies who would be impacted. Days later, Trump appeared to somewhat reverse course, saying the US would send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, after previously saying he would pull 5,000 troops from Germany. It’s still unclear what that change will look like in terms of which units are moved where.

The US military is also expecting to see another three-star US command, Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, or SAG-U, get shut down, though the move has not yet been finalized. Two of the sources familiar and the congressional aide said the functions of the command would still exist to some extent and be taken over by other groups but the closure of SAG-U — established in 2022 — will also see the reassignment of roughly 300 personnel.

And just a week ago, Hegseth indicated more changes could be coming, announcing a six-month review of US forces in Europe while speaking at a NATO meeting in Brussels.

“It’s a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colors,” Hegseth said.

Davis Winkie’s work at CNN is supported by a partnership between Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners (JFP). CNN retains full editorial control of the reporting.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.