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After a week<\/span> of handwringing about the purpose of an unprecedented gathering of generals and admirals on Tuesday, the meeting in Quantico, Virginia, ended with standard fare from both President Donald Trump and his self-styled Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the largest single gathering of top military brass in memory \u2014 and perhaps ever \u2014 Hegseth began with an unhinged address filled with confusing contradictions, wild-eyed cheerleading, and politically charged rhetoric.<\/p>\n Trump followed with a long, rambling address that only sporadically touched on military topics. At one point the president, who has used the troops<\/a> to quell protests<\/a> and occupy American<\/a> cities, warned the assembled military leadership of \u201ca war from within.\u201d<\/p>\n Three different defense officials who spoke with The Intercept called Trump\u2019s speech \u201cembarrassing.\u201d The same defense officials took Hegseth to task for gathering the military\u2019s top commanders from around the world for a rant little different than his social media posts. One called Hegseth\u2019s address \u201cgarbage,\u201d using a term the war secretary used during his speech. Another said: \u201cWe are diminished as a nation by both Hegseth and Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Trump used his address to take aim at cities he claimed \u201care run by the radical left Democrats,\u201d including San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. \u201cWe\u2019re going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a war too. It\u2019s a war from within.\u201d He continued, \u201cWe should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be a fighting and winning machine,\u201d Trump said during a stream-of-consciousness address that meandered from sleepy word salads to tirades about tariffs, President Barack Obama\u2019s ability to quickly descend stairs, President Joe Biden and the autopen, the press, his own supposed prowess<\/a> at ending wars<\/a>, the odds he will win the Nobel Prize, and his hope that the U.S. will get back to building warships of a bygone era.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we should maybe start thinking about battleships by the way,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s old technology when you look at those guns. But it\u2019s something we\u2019re actually considering, the concept of battleship, nice six-inch side solid steel, not aluminum.\u201d\u00a0Trump then expressed his fandom of a television documentary from the 1950s: \u201cI used to watch \u2018Victory at Sea.\u2019 I love \u2018Victory at Sea.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI call it the N-word. There are two N-words, and you can\u2019t use either of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Trump also repeatedly discussed nuclear weapons during the speech. \u201cI rebuilt our nuclear,\u201d he said. \u201cI moved a submarine or two, I won\u2019t say about the two, over to the coast of Russia just to be careful, because we can\u2019t let people throw around that word.\u201d He continued: \u201cI call it the N-word. There are two N-words, and you can\u2019t use either of them.\u201d<\/p>\n At one point, Trump claimed to be the 45th, 46th, and 47th president of the United States. Biden was actually the 46th.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cListening to Donald Trump was deeply troubling and it is clear he is unfit for the role of commander in chief,\u201d one of the defense officials told The Intercept, speaking on the condition of anonymity. \u201cTrump lectured our military leaders on his victimization and inability to let go of perceived past slights.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is truly disturbing. He is clearly unwell even for Trump,\u201d said a second defense official, who later referenced the 25th Amendment, which permits a president\u2019s powers to be transferred to the vice president when the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet conclude that the commander-in-chief is incapable of performing their duties. \u201cThis is incredibly embarrassing for the United States.\u201d He added: \u201cImagine sitting through this in person.\u201d<\/p>\n Hegseth, stalking back and forth across the dais during his address, invoked Jesus\u2019s golden rule to \u201cdo unto others\u201d while threatening that those who challenge the United States will be \u201ccrushed with violence.\u201d Hegseth continued: \u201cIn other words, to our enemies: FAFO,\u201d Hegseth said, using an abbreviation for \u201cfuck around, find out.\u201d<\/p>\n He revealed that he had just sent an email to the assembled leaders containing 10 new Department of War directives. \u201cThey were written for you,\u201d said Hegseth. \u201cThese directives are designed to take the monkey off your back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Hegseth said the Pentagon is reviewing its definitions of hazing, bullying and \u201ctoxic leadership.\u201d While \u201cnasty\u201d bullying and hazing won\u2019t be tolerated, he explained, the terms had been \u201cweaponized.\u201d Basic training is \u201cbeing restored to what it should be: scary, tough, and disciplined. We\u2019re empowering drill sergeants to instill healthy fear in new recruits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hegseth focused heavily on lecturing the top brass about fitness and grooming standards. He pushed for rigorous physical qualifications for military personnel, acknowledging that they might disqualify some or even all women from combat.\u00a0\u201cWhen 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 \u201cNo more climate change worship, no more division, distraction, or gender delusions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Hegseth pledged to fix \u201cdecades of decay\u201d that had diminished what he repeatedly called the \u201cWoke Department.\u201d He took aim at \u201cfoolish and reckless politicians\u201d while professing military subservience to civilian leadership. \u201cNo more political ideologies,\u201d Hegseth commanded. He continued: \u201cNo more climate change worship, no more division, distraction, or gender delusions.\u201d<\/p>\n Hegseth took aim at what he called \u201cthe social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage,\u201d and advanced a \u201cbroken windows theory\u201d that he said would restore the military to greatness.<\/p>\n \u201cNo more dudes in dresses,\u201d Hegseth ranted. \u201cWe are done with that shit.\u201d The clean-shaven secretary railed against troops with beards and long hair, saying that only members of the Special Operations forces would be allowed to flout standards. \u201cNo more beardos,\u201d he decreed, taking aim at those whom he said looked like \u201cnordic pagans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou kill people and break things for a living,\u201d said Hegseth toward the end of his remarks. \u201cMove out and draw fire because we are the War Department.\u201d<\/p>\n It was standard bluster by Hegseth, who had already come under fire for the expense of flying commanders from across the globe to Washington on the eve of a federal shutdown.<\/p>\n \u201cSecretary Hegseth\u2019s misogynistic lethality screed was disqualifying. His continued railing against women in combat roles shows his deep personal inadequacies,\u201d said the first defense official. \u201cIt shocks the conscience to hear the Secretary of Defense \u2014 he is no warrior \u2014 endorse bullying and hazing of service members. How dare this former National Guard major lecture our military leaders on lethality when he\u2019s focused solely on his own cult of personality.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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