According to a report in The New York Times, a senior US Defense Department official reportedly told a military leader that US President Donald Trump “doesn’t want to stand next to a black female officer” at military events.The comments relate to a controversy over promotion within the US Army officer corps. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly removed four officers from the list of candidates for promotion to the rank of one-star general. Two of those officers were black and two were women.Such promotion lists are created by senior military boards and are usually considered confidential until approved. In this case, Hegseth’s move was criticized by some Army leaders and questioned whether the decision was appropriate or legal.The dispute deepened last year during a falling out between Hegseth’s chief of staff Ricky Buria and Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, the NYT reported. The clash was over the promotion of another officer. During that exchange Buria reportedly said that the US President would not want to stand next to a black female officer at military functions.Driscoll was reportedly surprised by the comment and dismissed the suggestion, telling Buria that “the President is not racist or sexist,” the NYT reported. Driscoll later raised the issue with a senior White House official.One of the officers affected by the change in the promotion list was Major General Antoinette R. Gantt was later assigned to a different command and promoted to two-star rank.Hegseth’s office has denied that any comments were made about the president. A spokesman for his chief of staff described the allegation as “completely false” and said it was intended to create division within the department.The Pentagon has not issued any public statements addressing specific allegations about the president’s priorities or campaign decisions.