Caine, a three-star general whom Trump has praised since at least 2019, helped lead an operation in Iraq against the Islamic State during Trump’s first term.

The retired Air Force general announced as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Donald Trump after the abrupt Friday night firing of his predecessor is a respected career F-16 pilot who is described by current and former officials who served with him as a professional with a “strong moral center.

Donald Trump's fascination with the retired three-star general appears to go back to their first meeting in Iraq in 2018, when Trump said Caine told him that the Islamic State could be destroyed in just one week.