{"id":22969,"date":"2018-10-04T21:37:05","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T21:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/04\/report-trump-may-fire-air-force-secretary-wilson-over-space-force\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:44:09","slug":"report-trump-may-fire-air-force-secretary-wilson-over-space-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/10\/04\/report-trump-may-fire-air-force-secretary-wilson-over-space-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Trump may fire Air Force Secretary Wilson over Space Force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Trump is considering firing U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson after the midterm elections due to her perceived slow-rolling of his order to create a separate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/air-force-association\/2018\/09\/17\/air-force-secretary-space-force-will-come-with-13b-in-added-costs\/\" target=\"_blank\">Space Force<\/a>, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2018\/10\/04\/trump-considers-ousting-air-force-head-over-space-force-pushback\/\" target=\"_blank\">report from Foreign Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an article posted online Thursday afternoon, Foreign Policy reported that Trump and Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan are \u201cangered &#8230; with what is seen as a campaign to undermine the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/08\/09\/no-answers-yet-on-cost-structure-of-space-force\/\" target=_blank>Space Force<\/a> effort\u201d by Wilson. Citing three unnamed sources, Foreign Policy reported that Trump has not made a final decision on firing Wilson, but that potential replacements, including Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., are being considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked to comment by Air Force Times, the service referred any questions to the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, Shanahan said he \u201cgreatly appreciate[s] Secretary Wilson\u2019s leadership, commitment, and vision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are partnered on implementing the National Defense Strategy and winning,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cWe\u2019re focused on the future of the department. There is no groupthink in the Pentagon as we deal with complex real-world decisions as making large scale institutional change is difficult and demanding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White called the report \u201cnonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Department of Defense leadership team is focused on defending our great nation and working together to be worthy of the blood, treasure and faith entrusted to us by the American people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilson was previously a critic of proposals to create a sixth separate branch of the military to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/08\/13\/space-force-and-midterms-share-stage-as-trump-signs-pentagon-policy-bill\/\" target=_blank>handle space operations<\/a>, and told Congress that taking space operations out of the Air Force would jeopardize its efforts to integrate space with other war-fighting operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/defense-news-conference\/2018\/09\/05\/the-top-air-force-official-is-now-onboard-with-trumps-space-force-plan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4635799.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Top US Air Force official is now on board with Trump\u2019s Space Force plan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">One of the Air Force&#039;s biggest Space Force critics has reversed her stance.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But at the Defense News Conference last month, Wilson said she was in \u201ccomplete alignment\u201d with Trump\u2019s order to create a Space Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we\u2019re going to do this, let\u2019s propose to do it right,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cLet\u2019s have this debate, support the president\u2019s proposal and put it forward \u2014 and make sure that we don\u2019t do this with half measures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Defense Department called the<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foreign Policy reported that Trump became angry at Wilson this summer, when the White House deemed the Air Force\u2019s first draft of a plan to stand up a Space Force inadequate and rejected it.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/09\/18\/new-space-force-price-tag-fuels-skepticism-on-capitol-hill\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-959235268.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New Space Force price tag fuels Capitol Hill skeptics<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Space Force&#039;s estimated $13 billion price tag is not winning it any new friends.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a Sept. 14 memo signed by Wilson, the Air Force estimated that creating a Space Force would cost $13 billion over five years. Some experts, such as Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that estimate was grossly inflated. Harrison suggested the Air Force\u2019s estimate may be an effort to \u201csabotage the idea by making it seem much broader and more expensive than it really would be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But skeptical lawmakers, including such Republicans as Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado, felt the projected price tag reinforced their concern that creating a new Space Force would be an expensive, unnecessary boondoggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foreign Policy reported that Wilson and Shanahan have frequently butted heads, and quoted a source as saying he \u201chates her guts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But she is well-known to have a strong relationship with Vice President Mike Pence, who made a surprise appearance with her last month at the Air Force Association\u2019s Air Space Cyber conference in National Harbor, Maryland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Defense News reporter Valerie Insinna contributed to this story.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Trump is considering firing Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson after the midterm elections due to her perceived slow-rolling of his order to create a separate Space Force, according to a report from Foreign Policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":50812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,36,19,23],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3412],"class_list":["post-22969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-pentagon","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"O7B6EL4KCJDQLOKNVNI4W4R5IY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/10\/04\/report-trump-may-fire-air-force-secretary-wilson-over-space-force\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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