Did Adm. Alvin Holsey call Trump ‘a disgrace’ before abrupt resignation? Not so fast

Claim:

Adm. Alvin Holsey called U.S. President Donald Trump “a disgrace to everyone who serves in uniform,” before abruptly resigning from the U.S. Navy.

Rating:

In December 2025, a claim (archived) circulated online that Adm. Alvin Holsey called U.S. President Donald Trump “a disgrace to everyone who serves in uniform” before abruptly resigning from the U.S. Navy. 

SOUTHCOM, the unified combatant command that covers Central and South America and the Caribbean, announced (archived) Oct. 16, 2025, that Holsey, the force’s commander, would retire on Dec. 12. 

According to online posts, Holsey “directly confronted President Trump in front of senior military leaders, calling him ‘a disgrace to everyone who serves in uniform'” over his administration’s strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug-trafficking boats. 

One Facebook post that shared the claim began, “Trump FREAKS OUT after Admiral STRIKES BACK HARD.”

The claim circulated on Facebook and X (archived, archived). YouTube videos using the same thumbnail as Facebook posts about the claim gathered hundreds of thousands of views (archived, archived).

Snopes found no reputable reports of the alleged meeting between Trump and Holsey, nor any evidence Holsey had called Trump “a disgrace to everyone who serves in uniform” (archived, archived, archived, archived).

Snopes previously reported on claims that Holsey resigned because he would not follow Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s orders to strike suspected drug boats off the coast of Venezuela. According to that claim, which Snopes could not verify, Holsey “raised concerns” about the orders and reportedly offered to resign during a meeting with Hegseth in October 2025. When we reached out to SOUTHCOM regarding that claim, a spokesperson for the command said it had no further comment on the reports.

The claim about Holsey calling Trump “a disgrace” used an image of Trump that appeared to have been generated with artificial intelligence and a picture of Adm. Daryl Caudle, the U.S. chief of naval operations. Caudle has never been the commander of SOUTHCOM and had not resigned at the time of this writing. YouTube channels sharing the claim marked their videos “Altered or synthetic content,” meaning the clips were “significantly edited or digitally generated.” Given the above, we rate this claim false.

In a statement (archived) published on SOUTHCOM’s X account, Holsey said it had been “an honor to serve our nation” but gave no reason for his resignation. An X post from Hegseth (archived) acknowledging Holsey’s resignation also did not give a specific reason.

Sean Parnell, chief spokesperson at the Pentagon, cast doubt on reports that Holsey’s resignation had anything to do with Hegseth’s Venezuela drug boat strike orders, writing (archived) on X that a New York Times report that Holsey had “raised concerns” about the boat strikes was “a total lie. Never happened. There was no hesitation or concerns about this mission.”

At the time of this writing, the Defense Department’s strikes on suspected drug boats appeared likely to continue. On Nov. 13, Hegseth announced (archived) a joint mission by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and SOUTHCOM to remove “narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere.”

Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan L. Pettus was due to assume command of SOUTHCOM on Dec. 12.

Sources

“Admiral Daryl Caudle.” U.S. Navy, https://www.navy.mil/Leadership/Flag-Officer-Biographies/Search/Article/2236204/admiral-daryl-caudle/.

Britzky, Haley, et al. “Commander Overseeing US Forces in the Caribbean to Retire One Year into Tenure | CNN Politics.” CNN, 16 Oct. 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/politics/southern-command-caribbean-strikes-holsey.

Holsey AND “a Disgrace to Everyone Who Serves in Uniform” – Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=d44b221d688bac1f&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB1138GB1138&q=holsey+AND+%22a+disgrace+to+everyone+who+serves+in+uniform%22&tbm=nws&source=lnms&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIeuYzzFkfneXafNx6OMdA4MRo3L_oOc-1oJ7O1RV73dx3MIyCigtuiU2aDjExIvydX85cOq96-7Mxd4KSNCLhHwYIo4RJXEXVWYwYSeCFXG0J5g7J0_QlNiqM4Euq3DbUukakRlQBtEL4YIItWZLBS4_D4qpoqMYJgdHY3UCoXAcIgwU4ag&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj6tq3zu7ORAxXFQEEAHWSzLCYQ0pQJegQIFhAB&biw=1920&bih=845&dpr=2. Accessed 10 Dec. 2025.

Holsey AND “a Disgrace to Everyone Who Serves in Uniform” – Search News. https://www.bing.com/news/search?q=holsey+AND+%22a+disgrace+to+everyone+who+serves+in+uniform%22&FORM=HDRSC7. Accessed 10 Dec. 2025.

Holsey AND “a Disgrace to Everyone Who Serves in Uniform” – Yahoo Search Results. https://uk.news.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrIfsd9ozlpEQIANyNLBQx.;_ylu=Y29sbwNpcjIEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3BpdnM-?p=holsey+AND+%22a+disgrace+to+everyone+who+serves+in+uniform%22&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t. Accessed 10 Dec. 2025.

Holsey AND “a Disgrace to Everyone Who Serves in Uniform” at DuckDuckGo. https://duckduckgo.com/?origin=funnel_home_website&t=h_&q=holsey+AND+%22a+disgrace+to+everyone+who+serves+in+uniform%22&ia=news&iar=news. Accessed 10 Dec. 2025.

Mongilio, Heather. “Senate Confirms CNO Nominee Caudle in Late Night Vote.” U.S. Naval Institute, 1 Aug. 2025, https://news.usni.org/2025/08/01/senate-confirms-cno-nominee-caudle-in-late-night-vote.

Schmitt, Eric, and Tyler Pager. “Head of the U.S. Military’s Southern Command Is Stepping Down, Officials Say.” New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025, https://archive.ph/gAWSd#selection-677.0-677.12.

“SOUTHCOM to Host Relinquishment-of-Command Dec. 12.” U.S. Southern Command, 1 Dec. 2025, https://www.southcom.mil/News/PressReleases/Article/4345336/southcom-to-host-relinquishment-of-command-dec-12/.