Today's News: Trump and Hegseth Call Senior Officers Home for Unprecedented Meeting
Both leaders used the platform to deliver partisan speeches, criticize past administrations, and outline a vision for the military focused on a “warrior ethos” and the elimination of “woke” policies.
Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Date: September 30, 2025
Summary: President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth convened an unprecedented, politically charged meeting of hundreds of senior military officers in Virginia. Both leaders used the platform to deliver partisan speeches, criticize past administrations, and outline a vision for the military focused on a “warrior ethos” and the elimination of “woke” policies. Hegseth explicitly told officers who disagreed with his directives to resign, while Trump discussed using American cities as military “training grounds” and made numerous false claims.
Sources
The New York Times - Trump and Hegseth Recount Familiar Partisan Complaints to Top Military Leaders
CNN - Hegseth pushes to remake the military in his preferred image
NBC News - Trump says military should use ‘dangerous’ U.S. cities as ‘training grounds’
The Washington Post - Trump, Hegseth lecture military leaders in rare, politically charged summit
Key Points
An unprecedented gathering of hundreds of senior military officers, summoned on short notice from around the world to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, was held.
The event featured highly partisan speeches from President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth, criticizing predecessors and focusing on cultural issues within the military.
Both leaders emphasized a push to eliminate “woke” policies, restore a “warrior ethos,” and tighten physical fitness and grooming standards, including gender-neutral standards based on male benchmarks.
Defense Secretary Hegseth explicitly stated that officers who disagreed with his vision should “do the honorable thing and resign,” following a period where he had already fired numerous senior officers.
President Trump discussed using “dangerous” American cities as “training grounds” for the military, framing domestic issues as an “enemy from within.”
The assembled military leaders maintained a largely silent, stone-faced, and apolitical demeanor throughout the speeches, adhering to norms of non-partisanship.
The meeting drew criticism from former military officials and Democratic lawmakers, who questioned its cost, purpose, and the politicization of the military.
Unique Highlights
The New York Times highlights Trump’s specific statement that there was “a war from within” in American cities, mentioning San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. It also notes that one senior officer said they were told to clap only when the Joint Chiefs of Staff did, to maintain an apolitical stance. The article quotes Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island calling the gathering “an expensive, dangerous dereliction of leadership.”
CNN (Hegseth pushes to remake the military in his preferred image) details Hegseth’s specific directives, including no “fat troops” or “fat generals and admirals,” the strict enforcement of clean-shaven policies with few exemptions, and the plan for only male physical standards for combat jobs, stating “if that means there are no women in those roles, ‘it is what it is.’” It also mentions Hegseth’s criticism of retired General Peter Chiarelli and his naming of preferred historical military leaders like Stockdale, Schwarzkopf, and Patton.
CNN (Fact check: Trump makes numerous false claims to generals and admirals, some about the military) provides comprehensive fact-checking of multiple false claims made by President Trump during his speech. These include debunking his statements about former President Biden’s comments on military strength and Space Force, Trump’s role in NATO spending, his claim of settling “seven wars,” assertions about “the Congo” and Venezuela emptying prisons, the number of migrants, the 2020 election, drug deaths, Portland protests, and an alleged legal battle with the Associated Press.
NBC News reports Hegseth’s intention to review policies against bullying and hazing, and to allow drill sergeants to use physical intensity and curse words again during basic training. It quotes Peter Feaver, a professor of political science at Duke University, saying, “Once you reach the senior ranks, the military wants you to be fighting from the neck up and not from the neck down.” The article also details some of Trump’s more unusual digressions, such as his dislikes about how Obama and Biden walk downstairs, his desire for Canada to become the 51st state, and his reference to “the two N-words.”
The Washington Post notes General Dan Caine, Trump’s hand-selected chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the event an “unprecedented opportunity and honor.” It also highlights Trump’s joke that if attendees didn’t like what he had to say, they could leave, but “there goes your rank, there goes your future.” The article reports Trump tacitly acknowledged the sensitive movements of U.S. submarines off the coast of Russia, referring to them as an “n-word” (nuclear). Hegseth’s plan to overhaul channels for whistleblower complaints, anonymous complaints, and reporting toxic leadership is also detailed.
Fox News specifically quotes Hegseth declaring the “Defense Department ‘dead’ in favor of the War Department.” It also features Hegseth’s closing remarks, which included a prayer, and his statement, “You kill people and break things for a living. You are not politically correct and don’t necessarily belong always in polite society. You are warriors.”
Contrasting Details
Renaming of Defense Department: While The New York Times and The Washington Post report that President Trump has renamed the Defense Department as the “Department of War,” The New York Times adds the crucial detail that “Congress has not yet approved the change.” Fox News, however, states Hegseth “declared the Defense Department ‘dead’ in favor of the War Department” without mentioning the lack of congressional approval, potentially implying a finalized change.
Audience Reaction: The New York Times describes the audience as “quieter and much more still than Mr. Trump usually encounters” and notes officers were told to clap only when the Joint Chiefs of Staff did. The Washington Post states the military brass sat “mostly silent.” NBC News, however, mentions that “The officers gave him a light round of applause after he finished.”
Trump’s Claims: CNN’s “Fact check” article directly contradicts numerous claims made by President Trump, which are reported as his statements in other articles. For example, while other articles mention Trump’s comments on Biden’s military stance or his claims of settling wars, the CNN fact-check explicitly debunks these as false, citing specific examples and data.
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