A former senior US military commander has issued a stark warning that Donald Trump's efforts to bend the armed forces to his political will are unprecedented and dangerously reminiscent of tactics used by Joseph Stalin.
A Lifetime of Service Sounds the Alarm
Major General Paul Eaton, who served for 37 years in active duty, told The Guardian that an aggressive campaign led by Trump and his Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, to politicise the military's top ranks could take years to repair. Eaton, 75, comes from a deep military background; his father, Air Force Colonel Norman Eaton, was shot down over Laos in 1969, with his remains identified in 2006.
Eaton trained at West Point and rose to become Infantry Chief before being tasked with rebuilding the Iraqi armed forces after the 2003 invasion. He now acts as an adviser to the organisation Vote Vets and participated in 2024 war games anticipating Trump's potential authoritarian moves.
"There is an active effort to politicise the armed forces," Eaton stated. "Once you infect the body, the cure may be very difficult and painful for presidents downstream." He emphasised that the military's reputation as an independent entity was at grave risk.
The Pentagon Purge and a 'Stalinist' Parallel
Eaton pinpointed the appointment of former Fox & Friends host Pete Hegseth as Defence Secretary as Trump's first major step. "Hegseth not only swears loyalty to Trump, he swears fealty to Trump – whereas the military swears an oath to the constitution," he said.
This was swiftly followed by a series of dismissals that sent a "chilling message" through the services. The military inspector general was ousted within a week of Trump's 2025 inauguration. Top military lawyers and senior officers were also removed, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Charles Brown, replaced by Lieutenant General Dan Caine.
Eaton drew a direct comparison to the 1940s purges of Soviet military leadership by Joseph Stalin. "Stalin killed a lot of the best and brightest... and then inserted political commissars into the units. The doubt that swept the armed forces of the Soviet Union is reminiscent of today," he explained, concluding, "you've got a 1940s Stalin problem inside the American military right now."
Dire Consequences: From War Crimes to Domestic Deployment
Eaton cited the controversial lethal US military strikes on boats in Latin American waters as evidence of the damage. The first of over 20 strikes occurred on 2 September 2025 and included a second strike that killed two survivors clinging to wreckage, after Hegseth reportedly ordered to "kill everybody".
"It was either a war crime or a murder," Eaton said, comparing it to a World War Two U-boat commander machine-gunning victims in the water.
Looking ahead, Eaton's profound concern is that these violations may soon manifest domestically. The Trump administration has federalised National Guard troops, deploying them into cities like Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Chicago against the wishes of Democratic mayors and governors.
In October 2025, Eaton counselled Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to stand firm against such deployments, stating he had "a requirement to protect your citizens from federal assault." Eaton fears a potential clash between federalised guardsmen and state police, warning a "memorable event" where people get hurt is increasingly likely.
"The senior leadership of our armed forces are sober people who do not speak in terms of fatness or 'kill them all'," Eaton said, summarising the profound cultural shift he believes is undermining the world's most powerful fighting force.
