GOP senator torches Hegseth’s ‘amateur hour’ as US retreats from Europe amid disastrous war on Iran

A senior Republican lawmaker has unleashed a scathing attack on US War Secretary Pete Hegseth, exposing deep fractures inside the Trump administration as Washington is forced to slash its military footprint in Europe, a clear admission that NATO allies have refused to be dragged into America’s disastrous war against Iran.

In a post on X on Saturday, Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) slammed decisions as “amateur hour at best and deadly at worst,” directly criticizing the Pentagon chief and his “political henchmen” for gutting America’s force posture in Europe and purging some of the US military’s most experienced commanders.

“The careless decision to reduce our force posture in Europe, along with moves by Pete Hegseth and his political henchmen to force out some of our finest general officers is amateur hour at best and deadly at worst,” Tillis wrote.

The North Carolina Republican’s sharp rebuke came after news revealed that the Pentagon intends to downgrade the Army’s four-star command overseeing Europe and Africa by mid-summer.

The command is currently led by Gen. Christopher Donahue, the very officer photographed as the last American soldier to flee Afghanistan in the humiliating 2021 defeat.

Under the reported plan, Donahue would be replaced by a three-star or lieutenant general, according to sources cited by the outlet.

Tillis described the decorated general as “one of our nation’s finest warfighters” and warned that sidelining him would mark “another step down a dangerous path.”

“Hegseth continues to surprise and disrespect our greatest allies and some of our best military professionals with impulsive decisions not grounded in reality or good judgment,” the senator added.

The troop cuts and command downgrades are no coincidence. The Trump administration has openly vowed to shrink America’s military presence across Europe and reconsider its so-called “collective defense” commitments, all while seething over NATO’s growing reluctance to join Washington’s reckless war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Just this week, Hegseth abruptly canceled the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team to Poland, halting the movement of 4,000 US troops.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced plans to withdraw another 5,000 soldiers from Germany after President Trump clashed with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the latter’s refusal to support the war on Iran.

Similar pullbacks from NATO’s eastern flank, including Romania, were already in motion.

Even Republican leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees have joined the criticism, warning that “prematurely reducing” US forces in Europe “risks undermining deterrence,” a thinly veiled jab at the Trump administration’s inability to keep its European vassals in line against Tehran and its partners.

Tillis is now part of a swelling chorus of GOP senators who, despite rubber-stamping Hegseth’s confirmation last year, are openly questioning his competence. Their anger has focused heavily on the purge of more than a dozen senior officers since Trump’s second term began, including the recent ouster of Navy Secretary John Phelan.

“Keep your word, Mr. Secretary: choose meritocracy over your mediocre yes-men,” Tillis demanded.

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The infighting lays bare the crumbling foundations of US global hegemony. After failing to rally Europe behind its aggressive anti-Iran agenda, Washington is now compelled to scale back its forward deployments, a strategic retreat born not of strength, but of isolation and overstretch.

As Iran continues to stand firm against the arrogant powers, America’s self-proclaimed “indispensable” empire is visibly unraveling from within.

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