President Trump has privately distanced himself from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's firing spree at the Pentagon, apologizing to a senator on behalf of a four-star general whom Hegseth axed without explanation — even as the purge leaves the Army without a permanent leader amid escalating drone warfare in the Middle East.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran who styles himself "Secretary of War" under a Trump executive order, fired Gen. Randy George, the Army's top officer, in a 15-second phone call in April, with no clear reasoning given. According to The New York Times, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) — a 22-year National Guard veteran who hails from George's home state and sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the panel that vets senior military nominations — called Trump directly to complain, telling him George was one of the Army's best officers and noting that the general's own parents had voted for Trump.

"Tell the general I'm sorry," Trump said, according to a congressional official familiar with the call.

The comment raises speculation that Hegseth's chaotic housecleaning was not his own call, even as the fallout continues to pile up. The Army has not had a confirmed chief of staff since George's ouster — the service's top uniformed post, responsible for the training and readiness of roughly 450,000 active-duty soldiers and normally filled on a Senate-confirmed four-year term. Hegseth has pushed out or fired at least a half-dozen senior officers, shrinking the Army's four-star ranks from 10 to just five — the fewest in decades. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, once seen as a possible successor to Hegseth himself, is also expected to leave in the coming months and has already vacated his government housing.

Hegseth's preferred replacement for George, Gen. Christopher LaNeve, still lacks enough Republican Senate support to be confirmed, partly because Ernst believed Hegseth had promised her that George would finish his term. LaNeve is now serving simultaneously as acting chief and vice chief, both demanding four-star roles.

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), a West Point graduate and former Army intelligence officer whose Hudson Valley district includes the U.S. Military Academy, warned the shake-up is doing lasting damage: "We're doing generational damage to the sense that the military is an apolitical trusted organization."

Hegseth's command of the Pentagon has produced an endless string of controversies, from the effective expulsion of the press corps to micromanaging exceptions for military rules about beards.