Updated September 30, 2025 at 9:17 AM MDT
President Trump defended the use of U.S. troops in American cities and told top U.S. commanders that the military would be used against the "enemy within."
"This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room, because it's the enemy from within, and we have to handle it before it gets out of control," Trump told those gathered for the highly unusual event at Quantico, Va. "It won't get out of control once you're involved at all."
Trump said he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the U.S. "should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military," a reference to the Democratic-run cities that he has long said have high crime rates that make them uninhabitable. Trump also talked about the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland, Ore., where state leaders are challenging his authority to deploy troops without a request from the state.
Trump and Hegseth, who also spoke Tuesday, reiterated to top U.S. military commanders the reason the administration had renamed the Department of Defense the Department of War.
"The name change reflects far more than the shift in branding – it's really a historic reassertion of our purpose, our identity and our pride," Trump said.
Hegseth, who has made a "warrior ethos" central to his view of the military, said the purpose of the department would exclusively be "war fighting," even as he told U.S. adversaries not to test the country, using vulgar military slang – FAFO – to describe what would happen if they did.
Hegseth said the newly renamed Department of War had lost its way and become the "woke department," and added: "To ensure peace, we must prepare for war." He made fitness a key part of his remarks and announced that "anyone wearing the uniform will take the PT test twice a year, and pass height and weight requirements," including generals and admirals.
"It's unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the Pentagon," he said, and also announced a ban on beards and long hair.
Hegseth also said he'd ordered a full review of the Pentagon's definition of what it deems "toxic leadership, bullying and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing."
He said while those behaviors can cross a line, the terms have been weaponized.
"If that makes me toxic," Hegseth said, "then so be it."
Trump also used the occasion to highlight his peacemaking prowess around the world (though the record has been mixed); attacking his political rivals, including former President Joe Biden; and the difficulty of solving the Ukraine-Russia conflict, which he had previously said would be easy to do.
The presence of military leaders from across the globe at one central location presented challenges from both an operational and a national security perspective. The president's attendance added to those challenges.
The lack of detail leading up to Tuesday's remarks had led to speculation that Hegseth might use the occasion to fire generals. The defense secretary has long called for reducing the number of admirals and generals, who stand at more than 800, by about 20%.
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