General’s promotion blocked in first sign of Trump retaliation for Afghanistan pullout

A Republican senator has blocked the promotion of a general who oversaw troops in Kabul during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to a Senate aide.

The move by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin follows threats from President-elect Donald Trump to fire senior officers and officials who oversaw the chaotic pullout from Afghanistan in 2021. It also comes as Trump’s transition team weighs possible court-martial proceedings against current and former officers involved in the withdrawal, as NBC News previously reported.

Army Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue was nominated for promotion to become a four-star general and to oversee U.S. Army forces in Europe. His nomination was among more than 900 proposed nominations sent to the Senate but Donahue’s was put on hold by Sen. Mullin, according to the Senate aide.

Mullin’s office declined to comment.

Donahue was the last American service member to board the final U.S. military plane out of Afghanistan in 2021. A night-vision photograph of Donahue boarding a cargo plane went viral, capturing the symbolism of the end of America’s 20-year-long war.

After the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan fell to Taliban militants, Donahue — then commander of the 82nd Airborne Division — was ordered to Kabul to oversee the withdrawal of U.S. forces, American embassy staff and Afghans who fought alongside American troops.

Retired Gen. Tony Thomas, former head of Special Operations Command, said in a social media post that the decision was a “disgrace” and that Donahue was being treated as a “political pawn.”

Heather Nauert, who worked for the State Department in Trump’s first presidential term, said in a social media post that she is a Trump supporter and likes Sen. Mullin but disagreed with the hold put on Donahue’s promotion.

“Unless there are facts I don’t know, holding up military promotions bc of our disgraceful Afghanistan withdrawal is wrong,” she wrote.

Donahue is currently commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. 

His promotion could now be at risk as the current Senate will soon go into recess and the new Republican-controlled Congress will start its work in 2025.