Retired Lieutenant General and “Razin” Caine, Presidential Candidate Donald Trump became the next chairman of the Chief of Staff, denied on Tuesday that he had wearing a hat “Make America Great Again” or other types of political merchandise.
In at least one recounts the first meeting of Caine and Trump in Iraq in 2018, the President seems to indicate Caine wearing a red maga hat, something that will not be permitted under military rules.
The question was asked by several senators at the Caine confirmation session in front of the Senate Armed Service Committee.
“Let me start by asking about some hyperbole that might be out there,” said Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Said at the beginning of the Tuesday session. “General Caine, are you wearing a Maga hat in front of the president?”
“No, sir,” he replied.
He gave the same answer when asked by Wicker, “Are you wearing a Maga hat at any time?”
Lieutenant General John D. Caine took his seat when he arrived for the Senate Armed Services Committee about his nomination to become the Chief of Staff Chief of Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 1, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
And when pressed by Wicker, Caine said, “Sir, for 34 years, I have strengthened the oath of office and my commitment to my commission, and I have never used political merchandise.”
When Senator Jack Reed, Dr.I., a member of the ranking at the Committee, followed up with the same line, Caine answered, “As I mentioned to the chairman, for 34 years, I have strengthened the oath of my office and in the responsibility of my commission.
“I think I go back and listen to the cassettes, and I think the president actually talks about other people,” Caine said. “And I have never worn political merchandise or say anything for that effect.”
Trump’s story about how he first met Caine had evolved for years since he first mentioned Caine during a comment at the conservative political action conference in February 2019, shortly after his journey to Iraq the previous year.
Trump has repeatedly gave Caine’s praise for ending the war against the Islamic state and in his first imaging of their meeting recorded how Caine impressed him for saying that ISIS could be destroyed in a few weeks by quickly attacking firmly in his last part of Syria, something that said that Trump in Washington in Washington could still need many years.
Lieutenant General John D. Caine took his seat when he arrived for the Senate Armed Services Committee about his nomination to become the Chief of Staff Chief of Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 1, 2025.
Jim Watson/AFP Via Getty Images
In the first recount, Trump joked focused on how he was shocked by the general sign “Razin,” asking whether it was a reference for raisins.
Trump continued to tell the story of the story for many years, but in CPAC last year, where he again put forward the first meeting with Caine, the President seems to state that Caine wore a red Maga hat at the time.
However, it is not clear whether Trump refers to Caine or Sergeant because in the transcript of the statement, he first mentioned meeting Caine, which he called General and asked his name.
Then, according to the transcript, Trump seemed to ask a sergeant name, who in turn told him, according to Trump, “Yes, sir. I love you, sir. I think you are great, sir. I will kill for you, sir.”
Then he wore the “Make America Great Again” hat, as well as hundreds of other service members in retelling Trump.
“And they shouldn’t do this, but they are all wearing a ‘American hat again’, right? I shouldn’t do it. I don’t think you should do that. You know that. They say, ‘It’s okay, sir. We don’t care,'” Trump said.
The use of political merchandise by members of military service is not permitted because it is an apolitical military principle.