Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine meets Wednesday with the Senate Appropriations Committee alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

By Abigail Hauslohner

Gen. Dan Caine, who since becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in April has assiduously avoided the public spotlight, on Wednesday broke with President Donald Trump’s assessment of the threat posed by Russia and the ongoing protests and violence in Los Angeles.

Caine’s comments during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing were restrained but significant, coming from the nation’s top military officer whom Democrats and moderate Republicans had feared might show little appetite for going against a president prone to pushing falsehoods in pursuit of his political agenda.

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