General Donoghue Retirement and Pentagon Shakeups

What appears to be two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela just seconds apart. It hit Caracas and a crowded region west of the capitol. Buildings collapse, the main airport is damaged, the government fears a high death toll as recovery efforts continue. I'm Michelle Martin, Veth A Martinez and this is Up firstirst from NPR News Senate Republicans reversed course in Iran last night, voting against a resolution to end the war just a day after a bipartisan rebuke of President Trump. It was a peace offering to a furious president who had blown up a popular housing bill and berated his own party over loyalty. And one of the Army's top generals is set to retire, catching many by surprise General Chris Donahghue was the last US soldier out of Afghanistan in twenty twenty one, and his exit fits a pattern of Pentagon shakeups. 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Then full price plan options available. taxes and fees extra. see MintMobile for details The MPR app cuts through the noise, bringing you local, national, and global coverage. No paywalls, no profits, no nonsense. Download it in your app store today Venezuela was hit by what seems to be two powerful earthquakes on Wednesday. They are among the largest in its history. Cital Carakas is one of the worst affected areas In sound from this verified video, you can hear a residents screaming in terror as their apartment swways violently from side to side. The tremors measuring magnitude seven point two and seven point five shuck just thirty nine seconds apart, bringing down buildings and severely damaging the international airport, which has now been closed. More than twenty aftershocks have followed The government has declared a state of emergency amid fears of significant casualties. Reporter John Otis joins us from neighboring Columbia. John. do we have any updates at all on the extent of the damage on casualties There's still a lot of confusion over how much devastation was caused by these back to back earthquakes. The epicenter was west of Caracas, but that's a very densely populated area with some big industrial cities like Valencia and Barquisimeto. Now, from photos and videos, the damage looks quite extensive. You can see huge clouds of dust rising into the sky over collapsed buildings and rescue workers pulling survivors out of the rubble on stretchers. People were ducking for cover under tables at restaurants. they were dashing out of their homes into the streets Venezuela's acting President Delsi Rodriguez said that at least one hundred and sixty four People were killed and nine hundred and seventy one were injured. And she said dozens of buildings collapsed in La Guaida, a town near the capital, which she described as a disaster area. Yesterday it was a public holiday in Venezuela. So rather than at work, many people were at their homes when the quake struck Now models put together by the US. Geological sururvey project that earthquakes this strong in such cases, there could be thousands of casualties. But that said, we don't have total numbers at this point, but people are already posting on social media and looking for missing loved ones So what's been the response of the Venezuelan government President Rodriguez spoke to the nation last night. She declared a state of emergency. She canceled public schools, and she called on doctors and nurses to immediately report to work. Let's listen. Emantaner Lonon. And she's saying, My main message to our people is to show solidarity. And she goes on to say that her entire government has been mobilized and that the number one task right now is saving lives. Okay, what's been the response from the international community President Rodriguez says she's received calls from the U. S, Mexico, Colombia and many other countries offering to help. President Trump has said on social media that he's ordered U. S. agencies to prepare to move quickly. The U. S. State Department says it's mobilized a disaster assistance team and task force to Venezuela. It will also be sending search and rescue teams, medical and humanitarian supplies. It helps that the Rodriguez government's been working closely with Washington Ever since the country's authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro was ousted by U. S. spepecial forces back in January, and the U.S. emmbassy is also reopened, so that should help But remember, under the Maduro regime, Venezuela's economy collapsed due to corruption, mismanagement and U. S. sanctions. Today, there's triple digit inflation, The health systems in shambles and firefighters and rescue workers lack equipment, so it's going to be tough for Venezuela to try to recover from this natural disaster That's Jh Otis, who is reporting from neighboring Colbia. John, thank you Thanks very much President Trump shocked Washington yesterday when he blew up plans to sign the widely supported legislation to lower housing costs across America. The president said he won't support the measure until the Senate passes his sweeping elections bill that so far Senate leaders have said just does not have the votes to pass. That's just the latest example of his frustration with those who won't follow his lead. Not only is the president showing his frustration with the Senate, but also U. S. allies around the world. I just want their loyalty. We don't need their money. we don't need anything We have the most powerful military in the world by far I just want loyalty. You know, we're so loyal to them. NPR's Franco Ordonz has been following this. Frankco, it feels like the president was celebrating festivist at the Capitol with the airing of grievances. What can you tell us? Yeah. I mean first, he really abruptly cancellled a popular bipartisan achievement in Washington that Both Republicans and Democrats wanted really a rarity these days. It was, you, a bill that focuses on one of the most important challenges Americans are facing right now. and that's affordability. But Trump was just not having it, saying that his pet issue, this election bill had to be first. I mean, it really was kind of like a sererenity now moment for some of these senators. You know, Trump later went into closed door meeting with some of those senators and expressed frustration with those who rebuked him on the Iran war actually prompting them to reverse course later in the day and vote against a similar warar powers resolution that they had approved earlier in the day And then finally,, in a meeting with Mark Ruta, NATO General' secretary, Trump went off on European leaders who he felt did not support him enough in the war against Iran. As we heard, he said he doesn't want their money. All he wants is their loyalty. So on that elections bill, John Thoune, the Senate majority leader has explained that the votes are just not there to overcome a democratic filibuster President Trump not understand how the Senate works here? You know, it's not clear if he doesn't understand or if he just doesn't care about the norms and procedures of the Senate. I mean, Trump is more focused on having Republicans loyal to him than having a majority who can pass his legislation You know, as you pointed out earlier, this speaks to much bigger issues about expanding his executive and political power and the loyalty he expects from those he works with You know that of course includes the Senate who he ripped into earlier in the day over Iran, and of course withheld support from the housing bill that could have helped the party in the fall elections But it also extends to foreign leaders, which we also saw yesterday, after Trump criticized European leaders, Ruta, the NATO chief, was clearly trying to maintain ties between Trump and the rest of Europe, I mean, just showering him with praise and only delicately pushing back when Trump criticized those allies. There must be political implications, though, especially with the housing boote Yeah, I mean, it speaks to the divide in the Republican Party just five months from the midterms. Republicans have been clamoring for Trump to turn from Iran and focus on domestic issues, to focus on the economy And then here you have them delivering to his desk, something that addresses one of the things polls show Americans are most worried about, the cost of living. It would probably help him in the polls. It would help the party doesn't sign it. I mean, House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to meet with Trump today to go over some of the challenge Trump faces with Capitol Hill Republicans. But it just gives Democrats another example that they can point to and argue that Trump is focused more on election fights and not on kitchen table concerns. That is White House correspondent Franco Ordonas. Thanks a lot, Franco Thanks Army General Chris Donoghue will shortly announce his retirement, according to two U. S. officials who were not authorized to speak publicly. The news caught many by surprise. Donoghue was a spepecial Forces soldier who now oversees U.S Army operations across Europe and Africa But he's perhaps best known as the last American soldier to depart Afghanistan in twenty twenty one during the chaotic withdrawal of US forces under the Biden administration. Here with more is MPR's Quill Lawrence. So Quill, who is General Chris Donoghue? Yeah, he's a West Point graduate, combat decorated veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria was a leader in Delta Force, which is an elite group even within special forces. He also commanded the eighty secondcond Airborne. He ran the arrmy's infantry school. In Europe, he's worked with Ukrainian military leaders. He's very highly respected across the military But he was only in this four star army job in Europe for a year and a half And Defense Secretary Pete Hgson did come into office saying that there are far too many flag officers in the military. He shrunk down the possible jobs that four stars can go to Donoughgh would have seemed like a competitive candidate for any of those remaining jobs up to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff So do we know anything about the backstory behind the abrupt news of his retiring No one has any official explanation. If you follow military Twitter and the Trump administration does seem to be concerned about what's said on social media, there are some trolls focusing on the fact that Don Hue was in charge of trying to evacuate Kabul Airport You may remember from five years ago, this green tinted night vision photo of a man walking up the ramp of an aircraft the last man out of Afghanistan. and people are sort of pinning that whole debacle, that messy conclusion of twenty messy years of war, capped by the death of thirteen U.S. troops and one hundred seventy Afghans in this suicide bombing Abby Gate. They're pinning that on Donahghue. Okay with that in mind, then the Pentagon is now doing an investigation of what it calls a quote disastrous and embarrassing withdrawal and has promised accountability, so is Donahue to blame for any of that There's really no evidence that he was. He arrived in Kabul after the city had fallen to the Taliban. He wasn't in charge of Abby Gate He came to run the withdrawal and coordinated hundreds of flights that probably saved thousands of people's lives And that photo of him being the last man out is widely seen as what right looks like in the military, the way a commander takes responsibility. You know, it was a general who was the last man to board the plane, not some unlucky private. You know, Defense Secretary Pete Higseth has had a few firings in his time as Secretary of defefense. Does this fall into that pattern Yes and no. Hex's been trimming the ranks and as we've watched that play out, more than half of those cut have been female or black officers And Hageth has been doing this highly unusual thing where he reaches way down into the promotion lists to block people. And of course, he sumarily fired C.Q Brown, who was a black chairman of the Joint Chief of staff as soon as Hagseth came in Donoghue is a white man and he seems to fit evenven the, you know, let's say narrow vision of what Secretary Higseth calls a war fighter This seems much more like back in April when Army Chief of Staff General Randy George was fired by Hagseth with