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 generals and admirals in attendance.
In keeping with the nonpartisan tradition of the armed services, the military leaders sat mostly stone-faced through Trump’s politicised remarks, a contrast from when rank-and-file soldiers cheered during Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg this summer.
President Donald Trump speaking to a gathering of top US military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico.Credit: AP
During his nearly hour-long speech, Hegseth said the US military has promoted too many leaders for the wrong reasons based on race, gender quotas and “historic firsts.”
“The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,” Hegseth said.
That was echoed by Trump, who said “the purposes of America military is not to protect anyone’s feelings. It’s to protect our republic.”
“We will not be politically correct when it comes to defending American freedom,” Trump said. “And we will be a fighting and winning machine.”
Gender-neutral physical standards
Hegseth used the platform to slam environmental policies and transgender troops while talking up his and Trump’s focus on “the warrior ethos” and “peace through strength.”
Hegseth said the department has been told from previous administrations that “our diversity is our strength,” which he called an “insane fallacy.”
“They had to put out dizzying DEI and LGBTQE+ statements. They were told females and males are the same thing, or that males who think they’re females is totally normal,” he said, adding the use of electric tanks and the COVID vaccine requirements to the list as mistaken policies.
The US military’s top leaders sat mostly stone-faced through the politicised remarks from Trump and Hegseth.Credit: AP
Hegseth said this is not about preventing women from serving.
“But when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender-neutral,” he said. “If 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.”
He also criticised the look of overweight troops, saying: “It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon.”
“The era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beardos,” Hegseth told the audience, which sat in silence.
Loosening disciplinary rules
Hegseth 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
He said he was ordering a review of “the department’s definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing.”
The defence secretary called for “changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable, earnest, or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity.”
“People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career,” Hegseth said. “Otherwise, we only try not to make mistakes.”
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Bullying and toxic leadership has been the suspected and confirmed cause behind numerous military suicides over the past several years, including the very dramatic suicide of Brandon Caserta, a young sailor who was bullied into killing himself in 2018.
Hegseth’s speech came as the country faces a potential government shutdown this week and as Hegseth, who has hammered home a focus on lethality, has taken several unusual and unexplained actions, including ordering cuts to the number of general officers and firings of other top military leaders.
Hegseth has championed the military’s role in securing the US-Mexico border, deploying to American cities as part of Trump’s law enforcement surges, and carrying out strikes on boats in the Caribbean that the administration says targeted drug traffickers.
