U.S. General Warns Trump Replaced Security Experts With "Sycophants" Amid Iran Crisis

A former United States Army General has accused Trump of removing National Security staff in favour of sycophants. This comes on the heels of Donald Trump issuing a call to several countries to aid the United States in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open. The crucial trade choke point has been shut after the United States entered into a joint operation with Israel with the goal of regime change in Iran. More than two weeks later, Iran has not relented, and the President has asked for help to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, despite claiming that Iran has no significant military strength left to pose any sort of a threat.

NEW:

🇫🇷 French General Yakovleff mocks Trump about the war with Iran: “The U.S. asks us for help and wants us to share the cost of their fiascos. Joining Trump’s coalition today is like buying a ticket to dinner and dancing on the Titanic the evening after it hit the iceberg.” pic.twitter.com/HH5V04CBwK — Megatron (@Megatron_ron) March 17, 2026

The Army General in question, Lieutenant General Hodges, is not only irked by how Trump is talking about the allies of the United States, but also the team that Trump has assembled that can help him conduct his military operations. Speaking with BBC Radio 4's Today, he said, “This is embarrassing for me as an American to hear any American president showing such disdain for any ally, and we are going to regret [it] in the long run as ... nations lose confidence in us, lose trust in us and start finding other ways to look after their strategic interests.” Regarding the people surrounding President Trump, he said,

"Many of the problems that we’re having in the United States right now are because the President has gotten rid of the normal national security staff. He’s put in place people who are sycophants."

All countries that Trump has invited to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz have declined, be it geopolitical heavyweights like China or regional players like Greece. Donald Trump has not been pleased with the response, saying, “They should be in here very happily helping us. They should be jumping to help us because we’ve helped them for years.”

President Trump:

"We strongly encourage other nations whose economy depends on the Strait of Hormuz, for these people, 90-95% of their energy and oil comes straight out of there, they should be in here very happily helping us!" https://t.co/3eJLSRufJP — SonofLiberty357 (@SonofLiberty357) March 16, 2026

Trump was especially irked by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wanting to consult with his team before engaging with the situation. He said, “Keir Starmer yesterday told me, ‘I’m meeting with my team to decide. I said, ‘You don’t need to meet your team, you’re the prime minister, you can make your own decision.’” Lt. Gen. Hodges was also disgusted by Trump’s apparent frustration at world leaders consulting with their teams. To that end, he said, “Any leader worth his or her salt depends on a team, so I find this repulsive to say the prime minister or the German chancellor or the president of any other country doesn’t need to speak to his or her team.”