John Ullyot, a top Pentagon spokesperson for the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, has resigned after a wave of controversies.

One of the most zealous supporters of the Trump administration’s purge of DEI-related content from government websites, Ullyot was demoted after the purge of a webpage about legendary baseball star Jackie Robinson, the first Black player in Major League Baseball.

Ullyot’s resignation comes at a turbulent time for the Pentagon. Three senior staff members have been placed on administrative leave as part of an investigation into press leaks following the Signalgate, in which a journalist was mistakenly added to a top secret top-level administration group chat on the commercial messaging app to plan military action in Yemen.

Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon has put three staffers on leave over leaks to the media. Oliver Contreras/AFP via Getty Images

Dan Caldwell, one of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top advisers, was reportedly escorted out of the Pentagon on Tuesday after he was identified as a potential source of leaks, as was Darin Selnick, deputy chief of staff to Hegseth.

Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, was placed on leave on Wednesday, with a government official confirming their departure to the Daily Beast.

One of the leaks suggested that Elon Musk would be briefed on top secret plans about a potential war with China, a briefing that was personally halted by Trump himself, who reportedly said: “What the f— is Elon doing there? Make sure he doesn’t go.”

Ullyot’s dedication to the anti-DEI mission landed him in hot water after a purge of a web page about Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in 1947 following service in the U.S. Army, provoked a furious outcry.

Ullyot, who referred to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives as “a form of Woke cultural Marxism that Divides the force, Erodes unit cohesion and Interferes with the services’ core warfighting mission,” was moved to a more behind the scenes role in the Pentagon following a furious outcry over the removal of the Jackie Robinson page. He was was replaced as spokesman by combat veteran and former congressional candidate Sean Parnell.

The purge of a webpage on Jackie Robinson provoked a furious backlash. Bettmann Archive

After struggling to find a new permanent role following the demotion later, Ullyot announced his departure from the Defense Department.

“I made clear to Secretary Hegseth before the inauguration that I was not interested in being number two to anyone in public affairs,” Ullyot told Politico in a statement on Wednesday.

“Last month, as that time approached, the Secretary and I talked and could not come to an agreement on another good fit for me at DOD.

“So I informed him today that I will be leaving at the end of this week.”

During his tenure as acting press secretary, Ullyot was also responsible for the controversial revamp of the Pentagon’s press pool, with The New York Times, NPR, and Politico, among other outlets, losing their workspaces, which were reassigned to pro-Trump organizations such as Breitbart and One America News Network.

The former Marine was a key part of Trump’s communications team during his 2016 presidential campaign and previously served as the National Security Council’s head of communications during the president’s first term, as well as assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs.