The dual messages underscored the Trump administration’s efforts not only to reshape contemporary Pentagon culture but enlist military resources for the president’s priorities and in everyday American civic life, including by quelling unrest and violent crime on city streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,\u201d Trump said. He noted at another point: \u201cWe\u2019re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy but more difficult in many ways because they don\u2019t wear uniforms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hegseth called hundreds of military leaders and their top advisers from around the world to the Marine Corps base in Quantico without publicly revealing the reason. His address largely focused on his own long-used talking points that painted a picture of a military that has been hamstrung by \u201cwoke\u201d policies, and he said military leaders should \u201cdo the honourable thing and resign\u201d if they don\u2019t like his new approach.<\/p>\n
Though meetings between military brass and civilian leaders are nothing new, this gathering had fueled intense speculation about its purpose, given the haste with which it was called and the mystery surrounding it. The fact that admirals and generals from conflict zones were summoned for a lecture on race and gender in the military showed the extent to which the country\u2019s culture wars have become a front-and-centre agenda item for Hegseth\u2019s Pentagon, even at a time of broad national security concerns across the globe.<\/p>\n
‘We will not be politically correct’<\/p>\n
![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/us-military-senior-leadership-listen-as-president-donald-tru-I77J3SOOVBGV3CBAMN6F4XIGLE.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
US military senior leadership listen as President Donald Trump speaks at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, September 30, 2025. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Trump is used to boisterous crowds of supporters who laugh at his jokes and applaud his boasts during his speeches. But he wasn’t getting that kind of soundtrack from the military leaders in attendance.<\/p>\n
In keeping with the nonpartisan tradition of the armed services, the military leaders sat mostly stone-faced through Trump\u2019s politicised remarks, a contrast from when rank-and-file soldiers cheered during Trump\u2019s speech at Fort Bragg this summer.<\/p>\n
During his nearly hourlong speech, Hegseth said the US military has promoted too many leaders for the wrong reasons based on race, gender quotas and \u201chistoric firsts\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe era of politically correct, overly sensitive don\u2019t-hurt-anyone\u2019s-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n
That was echoed by Trump, who said \u201cthe purposes of America military is not to protect anyone\u2019s feelings. It\u2019s to protect our republic\u2033.<\/p>\n
\u2033We will not be politically correct when it comes to defending American freedom,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd we will be a fighting and winning machine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the meeting \u201can expensive, dangerous dereliction of leadership” by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven more troubling was Mr Hegseth\u2019s ultimatum to America\u2019s senior officers: conform to his political worldview or step aside,” Reed said in a statement. “That demand is profoundly dangerous. It signals that partisan loyalty matters more than capability, judgment, or service to the Constitution, undermining the principle of a professional, nonpartisan military.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loosening disciplinary rules<\/p>\n
Hegseth also said he is loosening disciplinary rules and weakening hazing protections, putting a heavy focus on removing many of the guardrails the military had put in place after numerous scandals and investigations<\/p>\n
He said he was ordering a review of \u201cthe department\u2019s definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing\u201d.<\/p>\n
He called for changes to “allow leaders with forgivable, earnest or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n
Bullying and toxic leadership have been the suspected and confirmed causes behind numerous military suicides over the past several years, including of Brandon Caserta, a young sailor who was bullied into killing himself in 2018.<\/p>\n
A Navy investigation found that Caserta\u2019s supervisor\u2019s \u201cnoted belligerence, vulgarity and brash leadership was likely a significant contributing factor in (the sailor)\u2019s decision to end his own life\u201d.<\/p>\n
Gender-neutral physical standards<\/p>\n
![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/us-military-senior-leadership-listen-as-president-donald-tru-3GWYPV5IKZBRLBXXU2KSWXXQKA.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
US military senior leadership listen as President Donald Trump speaks at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, September 30, 2025. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Hegseth used the platform to slam environmental policies and transgender troops while talking up his and Trump’s focus on \u201cthe warrior ethos\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon has been told from previous administrations that \u201cour diversity is our strength\u201d, Hegseth said, calling that an \u201cinsane fallacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had to put out dizzying DEI and LGBTQI+ statements. They were told females and males are the same thing, or that males who think they\u2019re females is totally normal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hegseth said this is not about preventing women from serving.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral,\u201d he said. \u201cIf women can make it excellent, if not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hegseth’s speech came as the country faces a potential government shutdown this week and as he has taken several unusual and unexplained actions, including ordering cuts to the number of general officers and the firings of other top military leaders.<\/p>\n
Trump also said the military’s focus should be on the Western Hemisphere. His administration has championed the military\u2019s role in securing the US-Mexico border, deploying to American cities as part of Trump\u2019s law enforcement surges, and carrying out strikes on boats in the Caribbean that it says targeted drug traffickers.<\/p>\n
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including spring snow closes roads in the south, a strong quake crumbles buildings in the Philippines, and why the FBI director\u2019s gifts to NZ officials had to be destroyed. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump proposed using American cities as training grounds for the armed forces, saying the US military…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,42,43,64,40,38,41,39,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-53031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-north-america","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories","16":"tag-us-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}