Hardly any applause as Trump tells top US military leaders to focus on war, discipline, and global threats

Donald Trump gave a call for the military to use 'dangerous' cities as guinea pigs before letting the National Guard run amok in Chicago at a briefing for top US military officials. And much to his dismay, hardly anyone present showed any enthusiasm about his plans, reports said.

US President Donald Trump spoke to top US military officials, but his speech received hardly any applause. Trump told generals, “I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military. National Guard, but our military. Because we're going into Chicago very soon. That's a big city with an incompetent governor. Stupid governor”, as stated by Aaron Rupar on X.

Hegseth declares end of 'old' days

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, though, shared Trump's enthusiasm and joined him in warning their own military of the consequences of not toeing the line. Addressing the senior military leaders, Hegseth said, “We have the strongest, most lethal, most prepared military on the planet.” Hegseth described the Pentagon as the “War Department” and said, “From this moment forward, the only mission of the newly-restored Department of War is this, War fighting, preparing for war and preparing to win.”

Hegseth declared the end of overly sensitive leadership, “The era of politically correct, overly sensitive, 'don't hurt anyone's feelings' leadership ends right now.” He warned officers, “At every level, either you can meet the standard, either you can do the job, either you are disciplined, fit, and trained — or you are out.”


Hegseth listed things being removed from the military, “No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusions, no more debris.” He added, “As I've said before, and will say again, we are done with that shit!”

Hegseth told generals, “If the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign.” Trump told the top generals, “If you don't like what I am saying, you can leave the room. There goes your rank, there goes your future.” Trump boasted about US military superiority, “We’re 25 years ahead of Russia and China in submarines. Russia is second, China’s third, but they’re coming up. In five years, they’ll be equal. They’re coming up.”

Trump boasts of ending 'seven' wars

Trump made a controversial comment on language, “We can't let people throw around that word. I call it the N word. There are two N words and you can't use either of them.” He claimed to have settled international conflicts, “I settled seven wars. Yesterday we might have settled the biggest of them all. Though Pakistan and India was very big.” On India and Pakistan, “India and Pakistan were going at it. And I called them both. And in this case, I used trade. I’m not going to trade with you. They said, 'No, no, no, you cannot do that.' I said, yes, I can.”

On Azerbaijan, “Azerbaijan was going on for 36 years, they said it was not solvable. I solved it. This time, Azerbaijan has been pronounced correctly.” Trump criticized US cities, “San Francisco and Chicago, New York, Los Angeles… We'll straighten them out one-by-one. It’s a war too. It’s a war from within.”

On Vladimir Putin, “I said to [Putin], you know, you don't look good. You are four years fighting a war that should have taken a week. Are you a paper tiger?” Trump questioned NATO leadership, “They call me the president of NATO. I said, I don't think so. It's unthinkable how all NATO members agreed to increase defense spending to 5%.”

With the top Pentagon officials looking bewildered at Trump and Hegseth's comments, the social media was abuzz with what the US military might make of an administration planning to increase forces in major US cities.

FAQs

Q1. Why did Trump’s speech to top military officials hardly get any clapping?

Many top generals showed little reaction as Trump made controversial remarks about cities, wars, and military leadership.

Q2. What did Pete Hegseth say about changes in the military?

Hegseth said the military will focus only on war readiness, removing politically correct programs, DEI offices, and other distractions.