‘Could have been an email’: Officials balk at Hegseth's generals meeting (barf alert)
Politico ^ | September 30th 2025 | JACK DETSCH and LEO SHANE III
Posted on 10/01/2025 3:12:10 PM PDT by Ennis85
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech to top generals was supposed to serve as a rallying cry for military exceptionalism — but it didn’t land that way with many of the people it was targeting.
Numerous defense officials — who watched senior brass scramble to Washington and then sit through a partisan speech from President Donald Trump and a return to old-school military standards by Hegseth — were left wondering why the event had occurred at all.
“More like a press conference than briefing the generals,” said one defense official, who, like others, was granted anonymity due to fears of retribution. “Could have been an email.”
Defense officials, in the Pentagon and at bases around the world, spent much of Tuesday trying to make sense of the last-minute gathering at the Quantico base in Virginia. Hegseth called out “fat generals,” and, separately, pushed fitness standards that could limit women in combat roles, while Trump offered his justification for sending the military into American cities.
The 90-minute event — which featured military officials who swore an oath to the Constitution attending something more akin to a campaign rally — had the feeling of a Hollywood production. Trump even instructed officials to “just have a good time.”
The meeting took place hours before a likely government shutdown, and struck some officials as a distraction that threatens to shift the military’s focus away from foreign threats toward an unprecedented domestic role.
“Not quite a loyalty test, but … on the spectrum of loyalty to ideology,” said a second defense official. “Total waste of money.”
Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine suggested Russian and Chinese officials would worry that hundreds of American generals and admirals had gathered together. But some current and former defense officials instead feared the security risk of sticking almost all of America’s top officers in the same room. And they dismissed Hegseth’s effort to bolster the military’s aggressive image through grooming standards and ending diversity programs.
“It‘s a waste of time for a lot of people who emphatically had better things they could and should be doing,” said a former senior defense official. “It’s also an inexcusable strategic risk to concentrate so many leaders in the operational chain of command in the same publicly known time and place, to convey an inane message of little merit.”
Some officials spent their time doing back-of-the-envelope math on ChatGPT to figure out how much the spectacle cost. Others across bases chose to avoid watching entirely.
“At this point, I am averting my eyes,” said a third defense official.
The Defense Department, which Trump has rebranded the Department of War, argued the event boosted morale and empowered military leaders. “The war on warriors is over,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement. “Political correctness has no home at the Department of War. Today’s address cements a new but familiar culture we refer to as the warrior ethos and postures the department toward a new era of peace though strength.“
Hegseth’s order that military commanders uphold physical fitness standards elicited jokes from prospective Democratic presidential candidates like California Gov. Gavin Newsom — who publicly doubted whether Trump, the commander-in-chief, would qualify for his job under the new rules.
But both within the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, people voiced worries about Hegseth’s remark that rules of engagement designed to protect civilians were “stupid” and Trump’s suggestion that the Pentagon would form quick reaction forces to quell upheaval in American cities.
“Deploying U.S. troops against U.S. citizens in American cities isn’t just unprecedented and unconstitutional — it’s UNAMERICAN,” Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), an Army veteran who served in Iraq, posted on X. “Every freedom-loving American Patriot, regardless of their political party, must speak up NOW.”
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) reiterated her call for Hegseth to resign after the meeting, saying the Pentagon chief “embodies dangerous views that undermine our military’s efficacy, lethality and readiness.”
The Pentagon has insisted the U.S. military is retooling to prepare for a potential war with China. But sending American troops to patrol their own cities will “distract warfighters from actually training to fight and win” against Beijing, said a fourth defense official.
Several Trump allies, including Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), said a face-to-face meeting like Hegseth’s helped reinforce the administration’s visions. “There needs to be more warfighter training,” he said in an interview. “We don’t do enough of it. We don’t do enough flying training. I like this approach … I thought it was a strong speech.”
Democrats, on the other hand, attacked the event as purely vanity-driven.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) called the resources used for the meeting “totally unjustified” and an exercise in chest thumping. “This comes at the expense of real national security,” she said in an interview. “But obviously they don’t give a rip.”
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: courtmartialthem; demedia; finftheirsources; jackdetsch; leoshane; leoshaneiii; military; officialdemnarrative; petehegseth; politicosedition; polutico; quantico; trump
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1 posted on 10/01/2025 3:12:10 PM PDT by Ennis85
To: Ennis85
What a bunch of crybabies. I hope they all resign.
2 posted on 10/01/2025 3:14:13 PM PDT by DennisR (Look around - God gives countless clues that He does, indeed, exist.)
To: Ennis85
If it was an email, it would sit unread or deleted. No one can claim ignorance.
3 posted on 10/01/2025 3:15:02 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana ("Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye." (John 2:5))
To: Ennis85; OldWarBaby; LonePalm
:: “More like a press conference than briefing the generals,” said one defense official, who, like others, was granted anonymity due to fears of retribution. “Could have been an email.” ::
There is no anonymity.
This one is soon to be looking for a new MOS as a corporal.
4 posted on 10/01/2025 3:15:52 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alteration (CACA); The acronym defines the science.)
To: Ennis85
Some officials spent their time doing back-of-the-envelope math on ChatGPT to figure out how much the spectacle cost. Others across bases chose to avoid watching entirely.
“At this point, I am averting my eyes,” said a third defense official.
A defense official worried about the bottom line. That'll be the day.
5 posted on 10/01/2025 3:16:32 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana ("Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye." (John 2:5))
To: Ennis85
“””Some officials spent their time doing back-of-the-envelope math on ChatGPT to figure out how much the spectacle cost. “”””
Sure. Because they care what stuff costs now. If they are truly concerned about cutting costs they could quit and go to work for msnbc.
6 posted on 10/01/2025 3:16:48 PM PDT by shelterguy
To: Dr. Sivana
I wonder how many of them weren’t heading back but heading out afterwards?
7 posted on 10/01/2025 3:18:20 PM PDT by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
To: Ennis85
Basic pro-American strong military message from Hegseth: “No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship. We are done with that shit”
Sure put their panties in a wad.
To: Ennis85
“””‘Could have been an email’: Officials balk at Hegseth’s generals meeting””””
Yes, it could have been an email, but now the generals and admirals have no excuse that they did not hear what the Commander in Chief said.
To: Ennis85
““Not quite a loyalty test, but … on the spectrum of loyalty to ideology,” said a second defense official. “Total waste of money.””
Yeah the ideology of patriotism pal, the speech was to fumigate after having traitors running the country for 4 years while you guys sat back as watched.
10 posted on 10/01/2025 3:19:09 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (As long as Hillary Clinton remains free, the USA will never have equal justice under the law)
To: Ennis85
Perhaps things went on behind closed doors that Politico doesn’t know about.
11 posted on 10/01/2025 3:19:17 PM PDT by RoosterRedux (If the truth offends, then the offense lies not in the truth—but in the falsehood it exposes.)
To: Ennis85
Politico not recognizing the name change to Dept. of War ?
12 posted on 10/01/2025 3:19:44 PM PDT by stylin19a ("Death Smiles At Everyone - Marines Smile Back" - 250 years of smiling - 11/10/2025)
To: Ennis85
Email, shemail....
The point they miss is this: Pete WANTED to deliver this message in person, to their face. Just like Trump at the UN. The #47 version of “Elections have consequences”.
If their butt was in front of Pete, they have now been told what is expected, zero excuses. Comply or face consequences.
13 posted on 10/01/2025 3:20:26 PM PDT by bigbob (We are all Charlie Kirk now)
To: Cletus.D.Yokel
This one is soon to be looking for a new MOS as a corporal.
"P.L.O."
14 posted on 10/01/2025 3:21:06 PM PDT by niteowl77
To: Ennis85
Unidentified sources and former defense officials and a bunch of libtards. All totally useless idiots.
I talked with a bunch of my old Veteran friends who all loved the speech and thought Hegseth was awesome and about F’n time. Most agreed if we were younger we’d be re-upping.
15 posted on 10/01/2025 3:21:18 PM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
To: Ennis85
All UNNAMED sources. No courage to take a stand for what you believe. Worthless to any war effort.
To: Ennis85
Said the fat admiral to the fat general
17 posted on 10/01/2025 3:21:33 PM PDT by Cold Heart
To: Ennis85
I found it odd that they showed little love for the CIC and WarSec. FAFO there flag guys.
To: Ennis85
When the boss says snap to you snap to.
End of discussion.
L
19 posted on 10/01/2025 3:22:30 PM PDT by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.l)
To: Ennis85
Not a single named source. Didn’t identify whether these Defense officials were current or prior under democratic administrations. I place no credence in this at all.
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