Daniel Wolfram
The blunder came as the White House fielded questions over the sudden removal of Joint Staff Director Brett Sylvia.
On Thursday, Donald Trump took questions from reporters about an ongoing leak inquiry that got a three-star general fired.
When a journalist asked about Army Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, referring only to his rank and last name, the president stumbled immediately.
It seemed that the question caught him off guard and that he had not been briefed on the matter.
Trump misgenders fired general
“She’s got problems,” Trump said when asked about the investigation on Thursday, according to the Washington Examiner. “She’s gonna have big problems. We’re very much looking for leakers.”
There was just one glaring mistake in the room: Sylvia is a man. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the military removed Sylvia from his role as director of strategy, plans, and policy on the Joint Staff after a leak probe.
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Before his sudden firing, the decorated officer had spent years rising through the ranks. That long career included commanding the 101st Airborne Division, according to records from the General Officer Management Office.
An aggressive hunt
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has taken a relentless line against unauthorized press disclosures, firing three civilian aides in 2025 over similar suspicions.
Those staffers pushed back vigorously in a joint statement. They insisted they had always protected classified material, adding that officials had never told them what the investigation was about or whether a real inquiry into leaks existed at all.
A Joint Staff spokesperson told the Washington Examiner of the Joint Staff’s “deepest gratitude” for Sylvia’s long service. But officials soon went silent, refusing further comment “out of respect for the service member and the ongoing personnel process.”
Yet the administration’s crusade against leakers faces awkward scrutiny over its own leadership. In 2025, Hegseth shared sensitive military plans concerning strikes on the Houthis in Yemen across two Signal chat groups. A reporter from The Atlantic was inadvertently included in one chat. The journalist watched operational war plans unfold in real time.
