President Trump has said he will attend a meeting of hundreds of US military generals and admirals at the US Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, this Tuesday, which was called by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The news of the highly unusual meeting, which involves gathering senior military officers stationed around the world, was first reported by The Washington Post last week. The initial report said it was unclear why the meeting was called, raising fears that Hegseth was preparing for a potential new war or military escalation.
But the Post has since reported that Hegseth is set to deliver a short speech on military standards on the idea of a “warrior ethos.” Hegseth and his recently rebranded Department of War have been stressing the use of terms like “warrior” and “war fighters” when describing US military personnel.
Senior officers are concerned that the meeting could involve firings since Hegseth has previously signed an order to reduce the number of four-star officers by 20%. Trump denied the idea that the gathering had negative implications for the generals and admirals.
“It’s really just a very nice meeting talking about how well we’re doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things. It’s just a good message,” the president told NBC News. “We have some great people coming in and it’s just an ‘esprit de corps.’ You know the expression ‘esprit de corps’? That’s all it’s about. We’re talking about what we’re doing, what they’re doing, and how we’re doing.”
