What to know about Hegseth’s gathering of top U.S. military leaders at Quantico, Virginia:
- Hundreds of generals and admirals were summoned from around the world last week for today’s unusual meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia, without initially being told why.
- Hegseth promoted the new name — the Department of War, although it has not officially been changed by Congress — and slammed “toxic leaders,” whom he accused of lowering standards to make the Defense Department the “woke department.”
- Hegseth told the military leaders he’s rolling out 10 new directives involving physical fitness, new grooming requirements and a return to “the highest male standard” for combat positions. He slammed what he said were “fat troops” and added “it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the world. It’s a bad look.”
- President Trump also addressed the generals, saying “together, we’re reawakening the warrior spirit.” His remarks, over an hour long, also included discussions of the Nobel Peace Prize, peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas and his love of tariffs.
- Mr. Trump said his administration is committing $1 trillion in 2026 for the military. Neither Mr. Trump nor Hegseth addressed the looming government shutdown. Active-duty troops will be required to report for duty but their pay will be delayed until the shutdown is over.
Trump says cities can be “training grounds” for military; mentions order he signed may help handle “the enemy within”
The president raised his controversial use of the military for law enforcement, telling military leaders that an executive order he signed in August would help the military “quell civil disturbances” and handle “the enemy within.”
“Last month, I signed an executive order to provide training for a quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances,” Mr. Trump said. “This is gonna be a big thing for the people in this room, because it’s the enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of control. It won’t get out of control.”
In August, Mr. Trump signed an executive order directing the defense secretary to ensure that each state’s National Guard is resourced, trained, organized and available to help in “quelling civil disturbances.” It also directed the defense secretary to designate a number of each state’s National Guard to be available for this purpose.
The president has sent the military into Washington, D.C., and plans to deploy the National Guard to Portland to curb crime, though neither the district nor Portland has asked for troops to help with law enforcement. He said to the military leaders that the cities could function as “training grounds” for troops: “I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military. National Guard, but our military. Because we’re going into Chicago very soon. That’s a big city with an incompetent governor.”
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said in a statement that Mr. Trump’s remarks “offered no strategy, no operational guidance, and no plan to address real threats.”
“His reckless suggestion that American cities be used as ‘training grounds’ for U.S. troops is a dangerous assault on our democracy, treating our own communities as war zones and our citizens as enemies,” Durbin said.
Trump says “Department of War” will deter wars
The president praised his decision to adopt the name “Department of War” and said he believes the re-naming will deter conflict.
“The Department of War is going to stop wars,” he said. The name of the department can only be officially changed by an act of Congress.
He said his administration will be making more announcements in the future to “fully embrace the identity of the Department of War.”
“The United States Armed Forces will be totally unmatched in the future,” the president said.
He ended his roughly hourlong remarks praising the military for defending American freedom.
“America’s military has charged into hellfire, climbed up jagged mountains, crossed roaring oceans, and thundered across open deserts to defend our flag, our freedom and our homeland. Nobody does it like you,” he said.
Mr. Trump closed by slamming the Biden administration, saying it was filled with “incompetent people.”
“We are the United States military. The best, the boldest, the bravest that the world has ever seen,” he said, adding “we will fight, fight, fight, and we will win, win, win.”
Trump says troops and federal law enforcement agents should be able to “hit” protesters
During comments about protests against immigration enforcement actions, the president recalled seeing demonstrators yelling at soldiers and other federal law enforcement officers who he said want to “knock the hell out of the person,” but can’t.
“She starts spitting in his face and he’s not allowed to do anything,” Mr. Trump claimed. “If it’s OK with you, generals and admirals, I’ve taken that off. I say, ‘They spit. We hit.’ Is that OK? We think so.”
Last week, the Trump administration announced it had authorized 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to deploy to Portland, although the state already filed a lawsuit claiming the president does not have authority. The deployment follows similar action in Memphis, Tennessee, and Los Angeles.
Trump says his administration wants to spend $1 trillion on military in 2026
Mr. Trump told military leaders that the armed forces under his administration “will not be politically correct” when it comes to American freedom and pledged it will be a “fighting and winning machine.”
“We’re bringing back a focus on fitness, ability, character and strength, and that’s because the purpose of the American military is not to protect anyone’s feelings. It’s to protect our republic,” he said.
The president said he has committed to spending more than $1 trillion on the military in 2026.
“That’s a lot of money. I hope you like it,” he told the assembled military leaders. For the 2025 fiscal year, the U.S. approved a budget of $895 billion for defense spending.
Mr. Trump also said his administration will be expanding the U.S. Navy by 19 ships, including submarines, destroyers and assault ships. But he said he does not like the look of some of the vessels, adding “an ugly ship is not necessary.”
Trump talks paper, tariffs and the Nobel Peace Prize
Mr. Trump talked about signing promotion papers for generals or admirals, and attacked his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for allegedly using an autopen. He also said that he advocated for “gorgeous paper” to be used when submitting senior officers for promotions.
“As leaders, our commitment to every patriot who puts on the uniform is to ensure that the American military remains the most lethal and dominant on the planet,” he said.
The autopen was one of several topics that Mr. Trump veered into during his remarks to generals and admirals. The president also discussed the Nobel Peace Prize, peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas and his love of tariffs.
Trump says his administration is “reawakening the warrior spirit”
The president said the change in the Pentagon’s name reflects “far more than the shift in branding,” and is instead a “historic reassertion of our purpose and our identity and our pride.”
Mr. Trump then said the U.S. has “extreme strength” that has allowed his administration to engage in negotiations with the goal of ending the conflicts between Israel and Hamas and Ukraine and Russia.
“Together, we’re reawakening the warrior spirit,” he said, adding “I am with you. I support you, and as president, I have your backs 100%. You’ll never see me even waver a little bit.”
Trump kicks off speech praising military leaders as “central casting”
Mr. Trump started his speech by encouraging the military leaders who were assembled at the meeting that they are free to applaud or even leave the room if they disagree with his comments. But he added that if they leave the room, “there goes your rank, there goes your future.”
He also slammed the Biden administration and joked that he expected more pushback to his directive changing the “Department of Defense” to the “Department of War.”
“There can be no higher honor than to serve as your commander-in-chief,” adding that the military leaders attending the meeting appear out of “central casting.”
Trump acknowledges cost of Quantico meeting but says it’s a “great spiritizing”
Before departing the White House for his speech in Quantico, the president acknowledged that “there’s a little bit of expense” to convening all senior military leaders, but indicated it’s worth the cost.
“There’s a little expense to that. We don’t like to waste them. We’d rather spend it on bullets and rockets, frankly,” Mr. Trump said. “But this was the one time we had to do a great spiritizing. It’s going to be great. I’ve seen it already. We have every general, every admiral. We have great people. We have our real warriors over there”
The president told reporters that his administration will fire any officials who it does not believe are fit to serve.
“We had some real bad ones. I rebuilt the military, the entire military, but I had a couple,” he said.
Hegseth urges military leaders to say “‘never again’ to nation building and nebulous end states”
Hegseth alleged that since the War Department’s name was changed in 1947, the U.S. has not won a “major theater war.” He credited former President Ronald Reagan’s military buildup for winning the 1991 Gulf War, which occurred under Reagan’s successor, former President George H.W. Bush. He also attributed that victory to military leaders who had previous “formative battlefield experience” during the Vietnam War.
“They said ‘never again’ to mission creep or nebulous end states,” Hegseth said. “The same holds true today. Our civilian and military leadership is chock-full of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who say ‘never again’ to nation building and nebulous end states.”
He said “this clear-eyed view — all the way to the White House” and Mr. Trump’s “military buildup” would posture the U.S. for future victories.
“We embrace the War Department, and we must,” Hegseth said. “We are preparing everyday to win, not just to defend. Defense is something you do all the time. It’s inherently reactionary and can lead to overuse, overreach and mission creep.”
Hegseth says “no more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement”
The Defense secretary suggested that he welcomes a loosening of the rules of engagement.
“We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement,” he said. “We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country.”
Hegseth added: “No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement.”
The secretary likened the new standards for the military to President Trump’s global tariffs announced in April, which the president called “Liberation Day,” and said the directives Hegseth is rolling out marks the “liberation of America’s warriors, in name, indeed, and in authorities.”
“You kill people and break things for a living,” Hegseth said.
“Anonymous, online or keyboard complaining is not worthy of a warrior,” Hegseth says
Hegseth said he wanted to recognize the “new proactive social media policies.”
“Anonymous, online or keyboard complaining is not worthy of a warrior,” Hegseth said. “It’s cowardice masquerading his conscience. Anonymous, unit level social media pages that trash commanders, demoralize troops and undermine unit cohesion must not be tolerated.”
Hegseth addresses senior officers he fired
Hegseth defended his decision to fire senior military officers soon after he was confirmed to lead the Pentagon.
“It’s nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped create or even benefited from that culture,” he said.
But Hegseth said those fired senior leaders were “following elected political leadership.”
“An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that ‘our diversity is our strength,'” Hegseth said.
He said the “new compass heading is clear: Out with the Chiarellis, the McKenzies and the Milleys.”
Hegseth appears to be referencing former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, former U.S. Central Command Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie and retired Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who served as the Army vice chief of staff.
Hegseth slams “toxic leaders,” and says there will be a review of “bullying and hazing” to “empower leaders”
Hegseth slammed the “toxic leaders” who he said are “endangering subordinates” by “promoting people based on immutable characteristics or quotas instead of based on merit.”
“Real toxic leadership is promoting destructive ideologies that are an anathema to the Constitution and the laws of nature and nature’s God, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence,” Hegseth said. “The definition of toxic has been turned upside down, and we’re correcting that.”
Hegseth said the Defense Department will be “undertaking a full review of the department’s definition of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing, to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing.”
He added that “we’re talking about words like bullying and hazing and toxic,” which he said have been “weaponized and bastardized inside our formations, undercutting commanders and NCOS.”
“If that makes me toxic, so be it,” he said.
He said leadership will be “merit based.”
Hegseth says he is overhauling the Pentagon’s inspector general
Hegseth said that he is issuing new policies to overhaul the Defense Department’s internal watchdog, its inspector general, as well as the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Military Equal Opportunity program.
He said he calls it the “no more walking on eggshells” policy.
“We are liberating commanders and NCOs,” Hegseth said. “We are liberating you.”
Hegseth said senior military leaders need to end the “poisonous culture of risk aversion.”
“You must trust that the warrior alongside you in battle is capable, truly, physically capable of doing what is necessary under fire,” he said.
The Defense Department inspector general is currently reviewing Hegseth’s use of the encrypted app Signal after he shared sensitive details about a military operation over a Signal group chat that accidentally included a journalist.
“The era of unprofessional appearance is over,” Hegseth says
In addition to the physical requirements, Hegseth also said the shaving standards would be restored.
“No more beardos, the era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles are done,” adding that if someone “cannot pass a PT test or don’t want to shave and look professional, it’s time for a new position or a new profession.”
“The era of unprofessional appearance is over,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth slams “fat” troops and generals: “It’s a bad look”
Hegseth said that he is rolling out 10 new directives that involve physical fitness, new grooming requirements and a return to “the highest male standard” for combat positions.
“If you do not meet the male level physical standards for combat positions, cannot pass a PT test or don’t want to shave and look professional, it’s time for a new position or a new profession,” he said.
Hegseth said “it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the world. It’s a bad look.”
He told military leaders he doesn’t want his son, now a teen, serving with out-of-shape troops or alongside women unable to meet the same combat arms physical standards as men.
“I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in a combat unit with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men, or troops who are not fully proficient on their assigned weapons platform or task, or under a leader who was the first but not the best,” Hegseth said. “Standards must be uniform, gender neutral and high. If not, they’re not standards. They’re just suggestions, suggestions that get our sons and daughters killed.”
“We must restore a ruthless, dispassionate and commonsense application of standards,” he said.
Defense Department name can only be changed by Congress
Although President Trump earlier this year signed an executive order renaming the Defense Department as the Department of War and Hegseth as Secretary of War, the name can only officially be changed by Congress.
Hegseth says Defense Department “became the ‘woke’ department”
Hegseth went on to discuss the importance of a strong fighting force and said the Armed Forces need to be led by the most “capable and most qualified combat leaders.”
“Our warfighters are entitled to be led by the best and most capable leaders,” he said. “That is who we need you all to be.”
Hegseth said the Pentagon under his leadership is “ending the war on warriors,” and claimed that his predecessors have promoted leaders based on race, gender quotas and “historic so-called firsts.”
“We lost our way and we became the ‘woke’ department, but not anymore,” he said.
The secretary blamed “foolish and reckless politicians” for being focused on “the wrong things,” and said he aims to fix “decades of decay.”
“If we are going to prevent and avoid war, we must prepare now,” Hegseth says
After discussing the name change, Hegseth told the generals that “there is no time for games,” and said if we’re going to prevent and avoid war, we must prepare now.”
“The time is now and the cause is urgent,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth briefly outlined that the Defense Department will be restoring and refocusing the U.S.’ defense industrial base, the ship building industry and onshoring all critical components.
Hegseth said he will be giving a speech next month to “showcase the speed innovations and general acquisition reforms we are undertaking urgently.”
Tuesday’s speech, he said, is about “people, and it’s about culture.”
Hegseth kicks off speech: “Welcome to the War Department”
Hegseth began his speech to senior military leaders by welcoming them to the War Department.
“The era of the Department of Defense is over,” he said.
He said the mission of the Pentagon is “warfighting: preparing for war and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit,” Hegseth said.
Trump and Hegseth to address top U.S. military leaders
President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are expected to address hundreds of generals and admirals Tuesday in Quantico, Virginia, in an unusual and urgent in-person meeting called by Hegseth last week. Hegseth is expected to speak at 8:15 a.m., ahead of Mr. Trump.
The nation’s top military leaders from all over the world were summoned last week by Hegseth to travel to Virginia for a meeting with the defense secretary but were initially given no information about why. Two defense officials tell CBS News that Hegseth is expected to talk about the “warrior ethos.”
Senior military commanders meet regularly throughout the year in person, but a meeting of this magnitude with so little warning or indication about its purpose is rare, if not unprecedented.
Hegseth planning to cut scores of military generals
Hundreds of generals are assembling Tuesday as Hegseth prepares to dramatically reduce the number of top-level military leaders.
In May, Hegseth ordered a 10% reduction in the number of general officers and flag officers across the armed forces. Four-star generals and admirals are expected to be cut by 20%, according to a memo sent out by the defense secretary.
Hegseth described the goal as “removing redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership by reducing excess general and flag officer positions.”
Trump says it will be “really just a very nice meeting”
In an interview with NBC News, the president said it would be “really just a very nice meeting talking about how well we’re doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things.”
“We have some great people coming in and it’s just an ‘esprit de corps,'” Mr. Trump said in the NBC News phone interview. “You know the expression ‘esprit de corps’? That’s all it’s about. We’re talking about what we’re doing, what they’re doing, and how we’re doing.”
