US EditionTrump, Hegseth Press Their Vision for Troops
Hegseth ordered mass firings of senior officers appointed under Biden and demanded officers either embrace his vision or step aside, aiming to restore military lethality.
- On Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth summoned around 800 top military officers to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, and delivered a partisan speech on restoring lethality and warrior ethos.
- To restore accountability, Hegseth said generals and commanders will be held accountable for the first time in over 20 years as part of a top-to-bottom cultural overhaul of the U.S. military.
- Firing senior legal officers, Hegseth also fired all services' top judge advocate general officers eight months ago and ordered combat-arms roles returned to the highest male standard with twice-yearly PT tests for the joint force.
- Media figures, veterans and retired leaders criticized the speech as inappropriate and a waste of time, while generals and admirals remained silent, reflecting traditional apolitical norms.
- Amid concerns about politicization, analysts urged action as critics linked the episode to Project 2025 and warned Republican civilian leaders and Congress must protect civilian control norms soon.
23 Articles
23 Articles
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Trump, Hegseth press their vision for troops
QUANTICO, Va. — President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed using American cities as training grounds for the armed forces and spoke of needing U.S. military might to combat what he called the "invasion from within."
The Virginian Pilot
Daily PressEditorial: Trump, Hegseth outline a dark vision for future of the U.S. military
The U.S. armed forces are the most professional, disciplined and effective military in world history. Its members and leaders are not without fault — they are not perfect — but there is no question that this country’s defense is sound and its international interests well served by the proud men and women in uniform. What a shame it is that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doesn’t think so. And how frightening that President Donald Trump believes t…
Don’t always follow the leader: Trump and Hegseth’s blundering show for military brass - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wasted a lot of the military’s money and the valuable time of nearly 1,000 top offices of the armed forces who were ordered to leave their posts around the world and convene at a base in Virginia to hear two stupid and un-American speeches by Hegseth and Trump.
Hegseth’s speech to generals was embarrassing, and frightening
The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com Steve Ball, a retired colonel, served 27 years in the U.S. Army. He lives in Windsor. This week, I watched with disbelief as the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth convened every U.S. general and admiral, along with their senior staffs, at Quantico, Virginia. Having sat t…
5 hawkish cartoons about Pete Hegseth's meeting of military muscle
(Image credit: Clay Jones / Copyright 2025 Claytoonz)(Image credit: Bill Bramhall / Copyright 2025 Tribune Content Agency)(Image credit: Nick Anderson / Copyright 2025 Tribune Content Agency)(Image credit: Randall Enos / Copyright 2025 Cagle Cartoons, Inc.)(Image credit: Jack Ohman / Copyright 2025 Tribune Content Agency)
Kudos To JB Pritzker: Calls For Trump To Be 25th Amendment'd
Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is drawing applause in the wake of his call to use the 25th Amendment to remove US President Donald Trump from office. Priztker on Tuesday blasted Trump for his speech in front of US military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, in which he said that he'd like to see cities such as Chicago used as "training grounds for our military," while at the same time threatening to use US troops to wage a war against "the ene…
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