As the federal government teeters getting ready to a shutdown, President Donald Trump and Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday are addressing an auditorium filled with a number of hundred of the nation’s most seasoned navy commanders summoned last-minute from all over the world.
The occasion is going on at a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, a safe web site an hour south of the nation’s capital. Hegseth kicked off the occasion with a speech on the significance of the “warrior ethos,” a time period used to explain the spirit that makes fight items efficient.
“We should be ready,” he mentioned. “Both we’re able to win or we aren’t.”
“This speech right now is about folks and it is about tradition,” he mentioned, calling for “the precise tradition on the Battle Division.”
Secretary of Battle Pete Hegseth speaks to senior navy leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, September 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos
He acknowledged why he fired Gen. CQ Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees and Chief of Naval Operatons Adm. Lisa Franchetti and different senior leaders.
He mentioned his his rationale “has been simple,” contending it is exhausting to vary a tradition with individuals who benefited from that earlier tradition.
He demanded no extra “fats generals,” saying all service members would wish to satisfy health checks and grooming requirements. “No extra beardos,” he mentioned. “The period of unacceptable look is over.”
He added that the division is “clearing the way in which for leaders to be leaders.”
“You would possibly say we’re ending the struggle on warriors,” Hegseth mentioned.
He instructed his viewers that if all the brand new requirements he has unveiled makes their “hearts sink,” then they need to resign.
As anticipated, Hegseth, who now goes by the title “secretary of struggle,” pressed exhausting, as a part of the broader rebranding ordered by Trump, the significance of implementing fight requirements that hold troops deadly.
Trump was following Hegseth together with his personal speech earlier than releasing the navy normal and flag officers to return to their obligation stations after the hourlong occasion.
Secretary of Battle Pete Hegseth speaks to senior navy leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, September 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos
Final week, normal and flag officers on the one-star degree and above have been instructed to fly to Quantico from their obligation stations with simply a number of days’ discover and no trace as to what the assembly is likely to be about. The Pentagon declined to touch upon the assembly, and hypothesis shortly unfold that the assembly may need to do with pressing cuts to the navy power or the nationwide protection technique, which might set new priorities for the second Trump administration and will change how troops prepare and equip themselves.
In the long run, although, sources mentioned the assembly appeared — at the least as of now — to be extra of a “rally the troops” speech just like what Hegseth often provides in public venues and in Fox Information interviews. However his remarks, which will probably be livestreamed to the general public, may even present a first-rate picture alternative with Hegseth addressing a whole lot of prime navy generals as their boss.
On Sunday, this system was given an sudden jolt when the White Home introduced Trump would be a part of Hegseth at Quantico. The White Home has not mentioned when or how the president discovered of Hegseth’s assembly or why he needed to take part. Aides additionally have not mentioned what Trump’s remarks will deal with.
The Protection Division, which now coined by Trump and Hegseth because the “Division of Battle,” has not mentioned how a lot it is going to value to fly in so many individuals final minute, though it’s extensively anticipated to value a number of a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars}.
It is also not clear precisely how many individuals have been invited. General, there are 838 complete normal officers and admirals on lively obligation — 446 of them are from the upper two-star, three-star and four-star ranks — in response to the Pentagon’s newest statistics from June.
The occasion comes as the federal government is careening towards a possible shutdown that would power some 2 million troops to work with out pay if a spending invoice does not move Congress by midnight Wednesday.
Most navy personnel are on monitor to be paid Oct. 1, officers mentioned Monday. However after that, troops could be on the mercy of negotiations on Capitol Hill, which stay at a stalemate.
In response to a contingency plan posted by the Pentagon this weekend, all active-duty troops could be required to maintain working. The plan says contracts can transfer ahead, too, however below elevated scrutiny with precedence given to efforts to safe the U.S. southern border and construct Trump’s U.S. missile protect generally known as “Golden Dome,” in addition to operations within the Center East and shipbuilding.
There had been hypothesis that the commanders touring from all over the world to listen to Trump and Hegseth converse on Tuesday might get caught away from their assigned work areas if the federal government shuts down that evening. However in response to authorities steering, personnel should return residence as quickly as attainable if a shutdown happens whereas on work journey. Any journey prices incurred after the shutdown are reimbursable as soon as spending resumes.
