The Defense Department is pulling the recommendation for Rear Admiral Michael Donnelly’s promotion, one week after the DoD refused to answer The Federalist’s inquiries, as the Daily Wire first reported.
“Secretary Hegseth has chosen to withdraw Admiral Donnelly’s nomination to lead [the] 7th fleet. The Secretary is thankful for his continued service and wishes him luck in his next position. The Department will open up nominations for the 7th fleet commander.”
Donnelly gained infamy for allowing drag shows aboard his ship, the USS Ronald Reagan, during Trump’s first term. The Federalist reached out to the White House to ask why Donnelly was being promoted despite his apparent opposition to Trump’s vision for the military, but did not receive a response. Upon reaching out to the Secretary of Defense’s Office with the same question, the Federalist was referred to Navy Public Affairs, which also did not respond.
On the campaign trail, Trump promised to fire woke generals and admirals, rid the military of other woke elements, and make the armed forces strong again. He even featured a video that spliced clips of Full Metal Jacket alongside Admiral Rachel Levine and Navy drag queen “Harpy Daniels” to illustrate the strength of the military under Trump versus wokeness under Biden.
“Harpy Daniels,” an openly nonbinary sailor and drag performer whose real name is Joshua Kelly, was crowned a Navy digital ambassador in 2022. In 2017 and 2018, he performed drag for Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Department events onboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Donnelly was the ship’s captain at the time.
Donnelly previously commanded Strike Fighter Squadron 154, the USS Denver, the USS Ronald Reagan, Carrier Strike Group 5, and U.S. Naval Forces Korea. He is currently the head of the Chief of Naval Operations’ Air Warfare directorate. If promoted to 7th fleet commander, he would have commanded up to 70 ships, 150 aircraft, and more than 27,000 sailors — the largest overseas force in the Navy.
Since his appointment, Hegseth has made good on Trump’s promises by implementing the president’s ban on recruiting trans-identifying individuals and working to remove them from the military.
Jacqueline Annis-Levings is a correspondent for the Federalist. She is a rising junior at Patrick Henry College, where she is majoring in English.
