The Pentagon plans to downgrade the Army’s top command overseeing Europe and Africa by mid-summer, a move that raises concerns about the future of America’s commitment to Europe and about what will happen to one of the Army’s most prominent generals.

The command is led by four-star Gen. Christopher Donahue, best known publicly as the last American service member photographed leaving Afghanistan. The proposed shift, confirmed by five people familiar with the deliberations, would replace him with a three-star or lieutenant general.

The Trump administration is overhauling the U.S. military footprint in Europe — pulling thousands of troops from Germany, pausing a deployment of an armored brigade and pressing allies to take on more of the burden of defending the continent. The new moves come after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly questioned President Donald Trump’s strategy on Iran, and Trump harangued allies for not doing more to help in the conflict.

The command, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, oversees Army operations across Europe and Africa and serves as a hub for supporting NATO allies and coordinating assistance to Ukraine. The Pentagon elevated the position in 2020 when it merged Army Europe and Africa commands, arguing then — in a signal to Russia and allies — that it reflected the scale of the forces the commander might need to oversee.

Downgrading to a lieutenant general would be “against the grain” for allies who see Russia as a near-term threat, said Jim Townsend, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO policy. The recent moves collectively suggest that Europe is less important to the Trump administration than other regions.

“The Swedish chief of defense last week said he thinks the Russians are going to do something within the next two or three years, so they’re moving up the timing of when the Russians might pull a stunt,” Townsend said. “To me, this means we don’t look on the Russians as being a threat such that we need to have those forces. What they could be saying at the same time is Europe is going to have to have more forces, more capabilities, and their own four-stars to command them.”

In October, the Pentagon downgraded the rank of the Air Force’s top commander in Europe to a three-star general, citing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s order a year ago to slash the number of general officers throughout the military.

“No decisions have been made regarding any future command structure. The Department of War will not speculate or get ahead of any potential decisions by the Secretary Hegseth or President Trump regarding senior military billets or theater posture. We have no further comment on these rumors,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to NOTUS.

The push to downgrade the command also raises fresh questions about the future of Donahue, a decorated special forces officer who is revered in Army circles for his record of service and role in pushing military innovation. It’s unclear whether the change will cut short his tenure or force his retirement.

That uncertainty comes amid a broader upheaval at the top of the Army. Hegseth this year fired Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, creating a vacuum at the top of the service and fueling speculation that Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve could be nominated to succeed him.

Some current and former Army officials also view Donahue as a plausible candidate for chief of staff, citing his decades in special operations, command of the secretive Delta Force at multiple levels, and time leading in the military’s Project Maven, which used an artificial intelligence tool to help troops use drone footage to find battlefield targets.

“Donahue is a sorcerer,” said a former senior Army official granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “He is somebody who has a vision, sees the future and moves organizations. The soldiers love him down to the paratrooper level, and leaders love him all the way up.”

Donahue commanded the 82nd Airborne Division during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and became a symbol of the end of the war after the publication of the grainy night-vision image of him boarding a C-17 cargo aircraft from Kabul.

Donahue’s nomination to lead U.S. Army Europe and Africa faced a temporary delay in the Senate amid scrutiny from some Republicans over the Afghanistan withdrawal, though supporters argued he managed a chaotic evacuation under extraordinary circumstances.

Trump, during the 2024 campaign, threatened to fire senior officers involved in the pullout, and his transition team compiled a list of officers involved, weighing whether they could be court-martialed.

“With the MAGA people, they’re like, ‘That’s the guy in Kabul, it’s his fault,’ but there was an outcry by everybody going, ‘You’ve got that wrong, he was the hero of all this,’” Townsend said.

The U.S. Army Europe and Africa downgrade hasn’t been announced, and members of Congress working to protect the U.S. military footprint in Europe may still step in.

On Friday, lawmakers at an Army budget hearing criticized the paused deployment as hastily planned and signaling bad faith to allies. House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers, a Republican, and ranking member Adam Smith, a Democrat, said there was no consultation with Congress ahead of the recent troop moves, as the law demands.

“We didn’t get that, so we don’t know what’s going on here,” Rogers said. “I just tell you, we’re not happy with what’s being talked about.”

Lawmakers said that the moves punish European allies who, in line with Trump’s efforts, are taking on more responsibility for defending themselves. Rep. Joe Courtney, a Democrat, noted that Poland, where the deployment was due to begin, is spending 4.8 percent of its GDP on defense, and neighboring Baltic countries are in a similar range.

“It’s not just our adversaries that are paying attention, it’s our allies,” Courtney said. “Given the fact that the administration is also pulling back 5,000 troops out of Germany, I’m sorry, I just think this is a horrible message.”

This article has been updated to include a comment from the Pentagon.