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U.S. President Donald Trump told more than 800 generals and admirals on Tuesday that the United States faces a "war from within" and said the military would be "a major part" of fighting domestic threats in Democratic-run cities, marking an unprecedented expansion of military involvement in civilian law enforcement.
Speaking at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Trump described immigration and crime as an "invasion from within" that is "no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don't wear uniforms."
"We're going to straighten them out one by one," Trump said, specifically naming San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
"This is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That's a war too — it's a war from within," he noted.
The president revealed he had signed an executive order establishing a military quick reaction force to quell civil disturbances, telling the assembled officers: "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 suggested using "some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military National Guard" and emphasized that "defending the homeland is the military's first and most important priority."
The hour-long address broke with tradition as previous presidents have typically avoided overt domestic politics when addressing troops.
The audience of officers remained silent throughout the political portions of the speech.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking before Trump, announced dramatic changes to military culture and standards, telling officers that more firings of senior commanders are coming.
"It's nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped create or even benefited from that culture," Hegseth said, defending recent dismissals that included the military's top general, who is Black, and the Navy's top admiral, who is a woman.
Hegseth declared that "foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading and we lost our way. We became the 'Woke Department.' But not anymore."
New military standards implemented
The defense secretary unveiled sweeping directives that included:
"It's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon," Hegseth said, announcing that all fitness tests would be set to male benchmarks only.
Hegseth told the assembled military leaders: "If the words I'm speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign."
The defense secretary criticized military focus on "race, gender quotas, and historic so-called firsts" for promotions, stating that "an entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that 'our diversity is our strength.'"
He announced plans to reduce mandatory training requirements to allow "more time in the motor pool and more time on the range."
Trump promised the military leaders a defense budget exceeding $1 trillion for 2026, which he said would be "the largest spending in our country's history."
The president claimed that under the Biden administration "all the ammunition was given to Ukraine" and the U.S. military had "nothing left," though he said the U.S. remains "25 years ahead" of Russia and China in submarine technology.
Trump opened his remarks with what he called a joke: "If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room, of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future."
The meeting comes as the U.S. military faces controversy over recent operations, including strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean that have raised legal questions.
Trump mentioned these operations, stating that "every drug ship from Venezuela kills about 25,000 people."
Hegseth, who recently rebranded the Defense Department as the "Department of War," also made controversial statements about the Geneva Conventions, calling them "stupid rules of engagement" and stating: "We untie the hands of our warriors to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill our nation's enemies; no more politically correct rules of engagement."
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