--- description: Donald Trump has called the U.S. military a "disaster." The head of the Air Force says he's wrong. title: Air Force Chief to Donald Trump: America's Military Is Not a 'Disaster' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41ad8160185e9afd/6988ac35428a9e74c8cd4d0b/deborah-lee-james.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Air Force Chief to Donald Trump: America's Military Is Not a 'Disaster' by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 31, 2016 2:16 PM CUT  Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James speaks at the National Press Club in Washington on Dec. 2, 2015. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James speaks at the National Press Club in Washington on Dec. 2, 2015.Manuel Balce Ceneta—AP by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 31, 2016 2:16 PM CUT [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4549586/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-email-fbi-investigation-reopen/ "undefined") has [called the U.S. military a “disaster.”](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/29/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-says-donald-trump-has-called-us-mi/ "undefined") The head of the Air Force [says he’s wrong](http://fortune.com/2016/10/31/fortune-unfiltered-deborah-lee-james-secretary-air-force/ "undefined"). “I can tell you the United States military is not any sort of disaster,” U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said in an interview with [the _Fortune Unfiltered_ podcast](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fortune-unfiltered-aaron-task/id1135636641?mt=2 "undefined"). “It is the best military on the planet.” James, just the second woman to ever be Air Force Secretary, cited Russia as the greatest national security threat to the U.S. Tensions with Moscow, the battle to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIS, the humanitarian crisis in Syria, and heightened activity by China in the South China Sea all make for what she called “the most complex period we have ever faced during the three decades I’ve been on the scene.” Subscribe to [the _Fortune Unfiltered_ podcast](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fortune-unfiltered-aaron-task/id1135636641?mt=2 "undefined") here, and read more about her interview on [Fortune.com.](http://fortune.com/2016/10/31/fortune-unfiltered-deborah-lee-james-secretary-air-force/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4551396/donald-trump-deborah-lee-james/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4551396/donald-trump-deborah-lee-james/"},"headline":"Air Force Chief to Donald Trump: America's Military Is Not a 'Disaster'","datePublished":"2016-10-31T14:16:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:31:12.955Z","description":"\"It is the best military on the planet\"","url":"https://time.com/4551396/donald-trump-deborah-lee-james/","keywords":["Military"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41ad8160185e9afd/6988ac35428a9e74c8cd4d0b/deborah-lee-james.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41ad8160185e9afd/6988ac35428a9e74c8cd4d0b/deborah-lee-james.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Deborah Lee James","caption":"Deborah Lee James","creditText":"Manuel Balce Ceneta—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4551396/donald-trump-deborah-lee-james/","name":"Air Force Chief to Donald Trump: America's Military Is Not a 'Disaster'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Donald Trump Proposes Larger Military With Less to Do","description":"Donald Trump proposed a major expansion in the number of boats, planes and service members in the U.S. military Wednesday, while at the same time suggesting that he would deploy those forces less frequently than his predecessors.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/r2psDzEC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-09-07T17:50:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/r2psDzEC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4551396/donald-trump-deborah-lee-james/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4551396/donald-trump-deborah-lee-james/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```