Dan Caine, right, then an Air Force brigadier general, meets with Maj. Gen. Najim in Mosul, Iraq, in 2018. (Keisha T. Brown/U.S. Army)
President Donald Trump on Friday said he would appoint retired Air Force Lt. Gen. John Dan “Razin” Caine as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a Biden appointee.
Caine, who is known by his middle name Dan, worked for three years at the Central Intelligence Agency until December 2024 and helped lead the fight against the Islamic State from Iraq. Here’s what to know about him. He is a retired lieutenant general
Caine, who retired from the military last year, reached the rank of lieutenant general in 2021, and his most recent government role was associate director for military affairs at the CIA.
His selection as chairman would be an unprecedented move with someone of his rank and experience as a three star general. Every previous appointee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 1949 has been either a four-star general or an admiral. Brown led the Air Force before he was appointed, and Gen. Mark A. Milley, his predecessor, had been chief of staff of the Army.
By law, an officer appointed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs must served have served as a vice chairman or must have previously overseen a military service or a combatant command. Caine did not serve in any of those positions. This requirement can be waived, however, if the president “determines such action is necessary in the national interest,” according to the law.
It is unusual to bring a retired officer back into the military for such a high-profile job. Though, if confirmed, Caine would be promoted to general - and become the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. Armed Forces - while holding the position.
Before joining the CIA, Caine was director of special-access programs at the Pentagon from 2019 to 2021 and a deputy commanding general in the fight against the Islamic State, based in Baghdad in 2018 and 2019. He was commissioned in 1990 and served in various roles in the Air Force over more than two decades, including as a fighter pilot. He has also served in the National Guard. He has been praised by Trump
Caine is a relative unknown, but Trump has brought him up at least twice in previous years at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), describing him in glowing terms, and again on Wednesday at an investment summit in Miami.
In 2019, Trump told the story of a general named “Raisin Caine” - pronounced like the fruit, he specified in his remarks - whom he met and liked in Iraq.
“Many so-called military ‘geniuses’ said it would take years to defeat ISIS,” Trump said on Truth Social on Friday, referring to the Islamic State. “General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered.”
That echoed an anecdote Trump has retold since at least six years ago at CPAC, when the president described a “perfect” man named “Raisin Caine” whom he had spoken to while visiting troops in Iraq. Trump recounted a conversation in which Caine told him their mission could be “totally finished” in one week if they could use more force. “Why didn’t my other generals tell me that?” Trump said he responded.
In his 2024 CPAC speech, Trump again brought up a Raisin Caine that he met in Iraq while talking about generals he “had to hold back” while in office. “I had generals that were really tough,” Trump said in his remarks, adding, “We have a great military, and it’s only ‘woke’ at the top.”
The Defense Department and Caine did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday. He is not known to have publicly confirmed or commented on Trump’s remarks. Caine has also worked in the private sector
Caine’s Air Force biography describes him as a “serial entrepreneur and investor.” He has held varied private-sector roles, including advising the security and space technology company Voyager and, according to his LinkedIn page, co-founding a Texas-based private airline that was later acquired. He would be the Pentagon’s top military officer
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking military officer in the Pentagon and the principal military adviser to the president.
The chairman heads the body consisting of top-level leaders of the main branches of the military. The role does not have executive authority to command combatant forces, and its primary purpose is to provide advice and opinions to the presidential administration.
