Donald Trump named Adam Tell as acting Army secretary following the resignation of Dan Driscoll.
Posted by Deadline: White House, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
Deadline: White HouseSep 7, 2026
Multiple tier-1 outlets (Reuters, AP) report that Trump named Adam Telle, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, as acting Army secretary on September 3, 2026, after Dan Driscoll's resignation. The sources spell the name "Telle" rather than "Tell", but it is clearly the same official, and the claim was true as of the September 7 posting date.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… I'm grateful to all of you. Still ahead for us, Trump's new seat warmer leading the U.S. Army, for now, is someone who is virtually unknown at the Pentagon, but perhaps most importantly, not to be Texas. Stay with us. That's next. Donald Trump has named a new acting Army secretary after the sudden resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll earlier this week. He's chosen Adam Tell, an official who oversees the Army Corps of Engineers, bypassing the Army undersecretary who would typically fill this role. …
Deadline: White House · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Reuters reports that Trump announced in a social media post that he was appointing Adam Telle, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, as acting U.S. Army Secretary, after Driscoll submitted his resignation.[1]
Supports. AP reports that Trump named Adam Telle as acting Army secretary following the departure of Dan Driscoll amid tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.[2][3]
Supports. CBS News reports that Trump named Telle as acting Army secretary following Driscoll's resignation earlier that week.[4]
Context. The name is spelled "Telle" in the sources and "Tell" in the claim and passage. The referent is the same official, the assistant secretary for civil works, so this is a spelling variant rather than a different person.[1][2][4][5]
Context. Some outlets note that it is unclear whether Trump will nominate Telle permanently, and that the appointment is acting only. The claim concerns the acting appointment, so this does not contradict it.[6]
Sources
6 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 2 tier 2, 2 not rated
- 1Trump appoints Adam Telle as acting US Army Secretaryreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Trump names Adam Telle as acting Army secretary | AP Newsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 3Trump names Adam Telle as acting Army secretary ...nbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4Trump names engineering official Adam Telle as acting Army secretary, after Dan Driscoll resigns amid frictioncbsnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
- 5Trump taps Army engineering official as acting secretaryinquirer.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Trump names Adam Telle acting Army secretary after Driscoll ...washingtonexaminer.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has resigned.True
- There is no Army Secretary currently serving.False
- There is currently no Army Secretary and no Chief of Staff to the Army Secretary.Mixed
- The U.S. Army currently lacks a Senate-confirmed leader.True
- A new press secretary was hired by the Trump administration last week.Mixed