Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke to a historical gathering of senior military officials, preparing them to invade U.S. cities and imposing new, superficial requirements to serve.
Moving forward, Hegseth said, troops and military leadership will have to be clean shaven, keep their hair short, and pass mandatory physical tests to assure they aren’t overweight.
In another part of his speech, 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 country and the world. It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are.”
Hegseth also announced new “methods to motivate” troops to become “warriors,” focusing specifically on physical abuse.
“We fight to win. We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy,” Hegseth said. “No more politically correct rules of engagement. Just common sense, maximum lethality, and authority for war fighters.”
Trump spent his time on stage ranting about Democrats, complaining about ugly ships, cracking jokes about Obama, and declaring war on U.S. cities: “This is gonna be a major part for some of the people in this room. This is war, too. It’s a war from within.”
Trump continued, saying “Only in recent decades did politicians come to believe that our job is to police the far reaches of Kenya and Somalia while America is under invasion from within. We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms. At least when they’re wearing a uniform, you can take them out. These people don’t have uniforms. But we are under invasion from within, and we’re stopping it very quickly.”
Historical Context
Hitler and the Nazi regime imposed strict physical requirements to ensure their soldiers embodied the regime’s ideals of physical fitness, racial purity, and strength. Overweight Germans were not allowed to serve in any capacity, and beards were prohibited.
In Trump’s speech, he said troops would “straighten out” cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. This is similar to his claims that he “cleaned up” Washington, D.C.
Preceding legislation against the Jewish people, Nazi propaganda created an atmosphere tolerant of violence against Jews by portraying the government as stepping in and “restoring order.”
Similar to Trump’s accusation that Democrats are behind “an invasion from within,” Hitler justified going after people who opposed the Nazi Party by portraying them as a dire threat to the country’s future. In last week’s NSPM-7, Trump accused Democrats of actively working to take down society.
Before The Meeting
On September 25, Hegseth called for a meeting with senior military officers from around the world to take place in Quantico, Virginia.
In the initial days after this news broke, the intention behind the meeting was unknown. Days later, it was revealed that Hegseth wanted to discuss restoring the “warrior ethos” as he defines it, as well as the standards that will be adopted to achieve that restoration.
Only officers in command positions were ordered to report to Quantico. Out of 838 generals and admirals, it is unknown how many are in command as opposed to staff positions. Regardless, this move degrades military readiness, as these command officers are stationed in vital theaters such as the Middle East, Europe, and East Asia. They have the tools to securely talk with Hegseth (supposing that he is not using Signal) from abroad.
While it is a norm for defense secretaries and generals to meet, a mass gathering of command officers is exceptional. Military allies of the United States may be left in confusion, while adversaries may view this situation as advantageous for them, with the American military in potential chaos.
