‘Scary voodoo stuff’: Experts panic as far-right activist Laura Loomer gains control over Donald Trump
Donald Trump has shocked Americans with a brutal firing spree after one divisive woman managed to push her way in to his inner circle.
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The United States’ top military officers are being purged.
Not based on competency.
But on loyalty.
It’s not about their oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”.
Instead, it is about the next bit: “I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me …”
Secretary of Defence Peter Hegseth dismissed Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield this week “due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead”.
No reason was given for dismissing the decorated helicopter pilot and the only woman on the NATO alliance’s military advisory committee.
But Vice Admiral Chatfield had recently been accused of being “woke” by US conservative lobby group American Accountability Foundation.
The dismissal came just one week after the Trump administration fired the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command director, Air Force General Timothy Haugh.
No reason was given for the dismissal of the intelligence and cyber specialist who led efforts to thwart Russia’s attempted interference in the 2018 US elections.
But General Haugh had recently been accused of “disloyalty” by a high-profile ultraconservative podcaster and conspiracy theorist.
The two are just the latest in a series of high-ranking military officers relieved of their posts in recent months.
But the President was dismissive of the unprecedented purge.
Addressing reporters aboard Air Force One earlier this week, Mr Trump said it was customary to fire “people that we don’t like or people that we don’t think can do the job or people that may have loyalties to somebody else. You’ll always have that”.
It’s the most recent expression of an attitude that has US constitutional experts alarmed.
Trump’s ‘Rasputin’ looms large
“NSA Director Tim Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired,” internet personality and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer raged on the social media platform X.
NSA Director Tim Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) April 4, 2025
As a Biden appointee, General Haugh had no place serving in the Trump admin given the fact that he was HAND PICKED by General Milley, who was accused of… pic.twitter.com/SFXmog5b44
Ms Loomer’s post is the only public indication of the reasoning behind the firing of General Haugh and his second in command, NSA Deputy Director Wendy Noble.
“As a Biden appointee, General Haugh had no place serving in the Trump admin given the fact that he was HAND PICKED by General Milley, who was accused of committing treason by President Trump.
“Why would we want an NSA Director who was referred to Biden after being hand-selected by Milley, who told China he would side with them over Trump!?!?”
Ms Loomer added that Noble was “a Trump hater who was nominated by JOE BIDEN”.
“Additionally, Wendy Noble spent her time at the NSA promoting DEI. Their firings are a blessing for the American people,” she said.
The Trump administration has invited Ms Loomer into the White House to help vet the administration for loyalty. The far-right activist has gained a significant social media following for her promotion of conspiracy theories, including that the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon was an “inside job”.
President Trump obliquely confirmed the firings were based on Ms Loomer’s advice: “She makes recommendations on things and people, and sometimes I listen to those recommendations, like I do with everybody”.
“She always has something to say, usually very constructive,” Mr Trump added.
“She recommended some people for jobs …”
Ms Loomer’s influence on the President has analysts alarmed.
“Removing top military leaders either for faithfully implementing the policies of previous administrations or for their identity — rather than for incompetence or failing to perform their duties — is a move designed to consolidate and retain regime power,” argues international security analyst Dr Lindsay Cohn.
“This is like Rasputin counselling the Tsar based on an omen in the stars,” adds University of New Haven analyst Dr Matthew Schmidt.
“It’s scary voodoo stuff to let someone like Loomer have this kind of power over a sitting president. That should terrify us, no matter what we think of the people getting fired.”
The Great Purge
No reason has been given for the firing of Vice Admiral Chatfield.
But she appears to have been targeted for a 2015 Women’s Equality Day speech in which she said, “Our diversity is our strength”.
The American Accountability Foundation lobbied Defence Secretary Hegseth for her dismissal, stating: “Is this someone who should be leading our men and women into battle?”
The subject of diversity is a personal bugbear for Secretary Hegseth.
“I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘Our diversity is our strength’,” Hegseth told a Pentagon town hall gathering earlier this year.
“I think our strength is our unity. I think our strength is our shared history.”
Of the Pentagon’s 1.2 million enlisted personnel, about 32 per cent belong to non-white racial groups. About 17 per cent are women.
On the first day of Mr Trump’s second term, he fired the US Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Linda Fagan.
The four-star admiral was the first woman to lead a branch of the US military.
No reason was given, and she was evicted from her government-supplied home with three hours’ notice.
Other senior female leaders, including Admiral Lisa Franchetti and Lieutenant General Jennifer Short, were treated similarly.
Also among Mr Trump’s first dismissals was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Brown.
Again, no reason was given. That’s despite it being the first time in US history that the most senior military officer of the US had been sacked.
Brown had been outspoken about his career challenges as a black man. And he had called for national reconciliation after the police murder of George Floyd in 2020.
“The firings do spark concerns about politicising the military,” political science and strategy Professors Joe Wright and John Chin argue in The Conversation.
“So do other moves by Trump that signal greater ambitions to personalise the security forces, such as selecting loyalists to lead the FBI and Secret Service and purging the military lawyers who help soldiers abide by the law.”
Loyalists with guns
President Trump has nominated retired three-star General Dan “Razin” Caine of the US Air Force as his new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The general is facing a Senate approval hearing for the job that normally requires a four-star rank.
Caine is a personal Trump favourite.
Mr Trump has called Caine a general “out of central casting”.
Mr Trump believed Caine could “wipe out ISIS in one week”.
Mr Trump said Caine told him he would “kill” for him while “wearing a MAGA hat”.
But last week, Caine denied the claim under oath in front of the Senate and insisted he would remain nonpartisan.
“All evidence suggests that the new administration is removing top military officers for reasons other than competence or performance, aiming to replace them with people they see as more loyal to this specific administration,” argues Dr Cohn.
“Such co-ordinated personnel changes – firing Pentagon lawyers, appointing loyalists to lead the FBI and selecting Trump’s personal bodyguard to lead a security service – are consistent with a strategy of ‘personalising’ the security forces,” argue Professors Wright and Chin.
“That personalisation is a hallmark of strongman rule throughout the world.”
It’s a common first move among aspiring tyrants and dictators, they add.
“The most serious sign of security personalisation in the US would be the creation of a new force outside the regular military chain of command – think the Department of Government Efficiency, but with guns,” the professors add.
“Pro-Trump military contractors are already calling for the government to fund a ‘small army of private citizens empowered to make arrests’ and deport immigrants.”
President Trump has sidelined the Secret Service to appoint his long-term personal bodyguard, Sean Curran, to lead the Presidential Guard unit of the White House.
But there is no sign of creating an extrajudicial paramilitary force.
Personal loyalty is, however, a high priority for the Trump administration.
“I woke up this morning to learn that there are still people in and around the West Wing who are LEAKING to the hostile, left-wing media about President Trump’s *confidential* and *private* meetings in the Oval Office,” Ms Loomer posted the day after news of her controversial advice broke.
“I will continue reiterating the importance of, and the necessity of STRONG VETTING, for the sake of protecting the President of the United States of America, and our national security.”
Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @jamieseidel.bsky.social
Originally published as ‘Scary voodoo stuff’: Experts panic as far-right activist Laura Loomer gains control over Donald Trump
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