The Pentagon held back on nominating two female generals for promotion to the four-star rank during former President Trump’s administration, out of fear that Trump would derail their nominations, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper told The New York Times on Wednesday. The two generals—Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost of the Air Force, and Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson of the Army—are set to be nominated for promotions by the Biden administration in the coming weeks, according to the Times. “I didn’t want their promotions derailed because someone in the Trump White House saw that I recommended them or thought [the Pentagon] was playing politics,” Esper, who was fired by Trump shortly after he lost the 2020 election, told the Times. “This was not the case. They were the best qualified. We were doing the right thing.”
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