October 1, 2025 | 08:06 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - US President Donald Trump addressed the country's top generals and admirals on Tuesday at a rare meeting, which required all top brass stationed around the world to appear in person at Quantico, Virginia.
Trump said he had signed an order to set up a military quick reaction force to respond to civil unrest, saying the military would be involved in his crackdowns on a number of Democratic-run cities.
"We're 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. That's a war too — it's a war from within," Trump said.
"After spending trillions of dollars defending the borders of foreign countries, with your help we're defending the borders of our country," he added.
Pentagon Chief, Pete Hegseth, who called for the meeting last week, has been leading Trump's transformation of the US military, having recently changed the name of the agency from the Department of Defense to the War Department.
Hegseth told the US top brass that too many leaders had been promoted for the wrong reasons based on race, gender quotas, and "historic firsts."
"The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don't-hurt-anyone's-feelings leadership ends right now at every level," Hegseth said.
"We became the 'Woke Department,'" Hegseth said as he kicked off the event in Quantico, Virginia. "But not anymore," he added.
'Fat generals'
Hegseth has sweeping changes to how discrimination complaints are handled and how accusations of wrongdoing are investigated, saying the current system has the Pentagon's leadership walking on "eggshells."
"If the words I'm speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign," Hegseth said.
He also addressed grooming standards and fitness, saying there would be new fitness tests: "It's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon."
"The era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beardos," Hegseth told the audience, in reference to a new rule that everyone must be clean-shaven, unless they serve special forces.
"We don't have a military full of Nordic pagans," he added.
Loosening anti-bullying and hazing rules
Hegseth said his department will work on loosening disciplinary rules and weakening hazing protections.
He said he had ordered a review of "the department's definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing."
Bullying and toxic leadership has been the suspected and confirmed cause behind numerous military suicides over the past several years, which led to new rules to try to prevent them.
Hegseth called for "changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable, earnest, or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity."
"People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career," Hegseth said.
'Peace through strength'
Hegseth slammed environmental policies and transgender troops, presenting his and Trump's vision on "the warrior ethos" and "peace through strength."
He rejected previous administration's efforts to put forth the notion that "our diversity is our strength," which he called an "insane fallacy."
"They had to put out dizzying DEI and LGBTQE+ statements. They were told females and males are the same thing, or that males who think they're females is totally normal," Hegseth said.
The Pentagon chief clarified that the new measures did not seek to prevent women from serving.
"But when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral," Hegseth said.
"If 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," he added.
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