WASHINGTON (AP) — That of President-elect Donald Trump The choice of defense secretary is still up in the air, but it’s a safe bet he will seek to reshape the Pentagon and choose a loyalist. During his tumultuous first term, five men served as Pentagon chief only to resign, be fired or serve briefly as interim.

Although he has yet to announce a decision, the names of potential Pentagon leaders range from the well-known — like Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee — to an array of former stalwarts of the administration, including retired Lt.-Gen. Keith Kellogg, who served in national security roles during Trump’s first term.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been nominated, but Trump said on social media Saturday that Pompeo would not join the new administration. Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida was also mentioned, but has now been tapped to become Trump’s national security adviser.

Some decisions can be delayed for days, as candidates jostle for attention and officials wait for a decision. final results of home raceswondering if Republican lawmakers can be tapped or if others are a safer choice to avoid another election for an empty congressional seat.

“This choice is going to tell us a lot about how he will deal with the Pentagon,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine colonel.

He said someone with a strong military background might not bring about as radical a change as others who might be seen as stronger Trump loyalists.

With a number of senior positions at the State Department, National Security Council and Defense Department, Trump should look to those who support his desire to end US involvement in any waruse it the army will control the border between the United States and Mexico And take a hard line on Iran.

The key test, however, will be loyalty and a willingness to do whatever Trump wants, as he seeks to avoid the retaliation he suffered from the Pentagon the first time around.

Trump’s relationship with his civilian and military leaders during these years was fraught with tension, confusion and frustration, as they struggled to temper or even simply interpret presidential tweets and statements that blindsided them into policy decisions. abrupt ones that they were not prepared to explain or defend.

Time and again, senior Pentagon officials – in uniform or not – have worked to dissuade, delay or derail Trump, on issues ranging from his initial request to ban transgender troops from serving in the military and his announcements according to which he was withdraw troops from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to his desire to use troops to guard the border And stemming civil unrest in the streets of Washington.

During his first administration, Trump focused on what he saw as strong military and defense industry leaders. Initially enamored of the generals, Trump eventually found that they were not loyal enough.

“He got mad at them,” Cancian said. “They weren’t as flexible as he thought.” …I’ve heard people speculating that the president might be fired. So that’s something to watch out for.

Air Force Gen. CQ Brown took over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in October 2023 for a four-year term, but military leaders serve at the pleasure of the president. Brown, a combat pilot and just the second Black officer to serve as president, spoke out after the police killing of George Floyd, describing the prejudice he faced in his life and career.

Trump should also choose someone as Defense Secretary with contempt for equity and diversity programs and less likely to thwart his plans based on the limits set by the Constitution and the rule of law. But he could also push for increased defense spending, at least initially, including on U.S. missile defense.

One of the main concerns is that Trump will select someone who will not oppose potentially illegal or dangerous orders or protect citizens. the military’s long-standing apolitical status.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin raised the red flag on Thursday. In a message to the force, he said the U.S. military stands ready to “obey all lawful orders of its civilian chain of command,” adding that troops take an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

He echoed retired Gen. Mark Milley’s statement during a closing speech. four years as president chiefs of staff.

“We do not swear an oath to a king or a queen, nor to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don’t swear an oath to an aspiring dictator,” Milley said. “We do not swear an oath to an individual. We swear an oath to the Constitution, and we swear an oath to the idea of ​​America, and we are willing to die to protect it.

Trump’s first defense chief, retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, quickly learned to stay off his boss’s radar by largely eliminating news conferences that Trump could attend.

Mattis and Milley, as well as Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine general, and retired Marine general Joseph Dunford, who also served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, all worked quietly behind the scenes to temper some of Trump’s decisions.

They blocked his demands that troops be quickly and completely withdrawn from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and successfully prevented the use of active-duty troops to quell civil unrest in Washington.

Two years later, Mattis abruptly resigned in December 2018, due to his frustration with Trump’s national security policies, including his perceived disregard for his allies and his demands to withdraw all troops from Syria. Patrick Shanahan, the deputy secretary of defense, took over as acting Pentagon chief, but stepped down six months later due to personal family issues made public.

Then-Secretary of the Army Mark Esper took over in an acting role, but he had to step aside briefly upon his appointment, so Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer assumed the role. functions as interim chief until Esper is confirmed.

Esper was fired days after Trump’s 2020 election defeatlargely because the president did not believe him to be loyal enough. Trump was particularly angry over Esper’s public opposition to invoking the two-century-old Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops to the District of Columbia during the unrest following the killing of George Floyd by the police.

Trump named Christopher Miller, a retired Army officer who served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, as acting secretary and surrounded him with loyal loyalists.

This is the Pentagon that officials quietly say they expect to see in the new Trump administration.