Mitch McConnell accuses Trump of putting 'amateur isolationists' in charge of US military policy

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell has accused Donald Trump of putting “amateur isolationists” in charge of US military policy. The former Republican leader of the upper chamber opened up about Trump firing National Security Agency director Timothy Haugh, and blasted the picks for Pentagon leadership.

“If decades of experience in uniform isn’t enough to lead the NSA but amateur isolationists can hold senior policy jobs at the Pentagon, then what exactly are the criteria for working on this administration’s national security staff,” McConnell told the New York Times. “I can’t figure it out.”

Michael DiMino and Andrew Byers criticised

McConnell, 83, has expressed his reservations about the US President appointing Michael DiMino to be deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, and Andrew Byers as deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia. DiMino, a former CIA analyst and former member of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff Directorate for Intelligence, was criticised for referring to Iran’s missile launches against Israel as “fairly moderate” compared to Israel’s actions against Iran. He has previously also downplayed the significance of the region for US security.

Byers is a former Duke University and Texas A&M scholar. He has faced criticism for saying “America should abandon belligerent military initiatives targeted at China and, instead, hedge against the China threat by adopting a ‘readiness’ strategy.”

Trump and McConnell worked together during the President’s first term, during which they worked on major legislation and nominations. However, their relationship soured after the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

McConnell voted to acquit Trump in the subsequent Senate impeachment trial, but also delivered a scathing speech blaming him for the violence at the time. McConnell said that the attack was “a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.”

McConnell will not be seeking reelection in 2026. He was the longest-serving party leader in US history.