Hegseth tells generals to embrace MAGA military or resign; reasserts 'highest male' standards

📌 Key Facts

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned hundreds of senior officers—reported as roughly 800 generals and admirals (brigadier general rank or above and Navy equivalents) plus their top enlisted advisers—from around the world to an urgent meeting at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia; the order was first reported by The Washington Post and confirmed by multiple outlets.
• President Donald Trump attended the Quantico gathering, praised the meeting ('I love it'), and was reported to tell attendees he would 'fire generals on the spot' if he disliked them.
• In a more than hour‑long address Hegseth told senior leaders to adopt the administration’s priorities (framed by some coverage as 'embrace MAGA') or 'do the honorable thing and resign,' linking that admonition to a broader anti‑'woke' rhetoric (he used phrases including 'ending the war on warriors' and 'the era of the Department of Defense is over').
• Hegseth announced a package of operational directives—described as about ten orders—including returning combat standards to pre‑2015 levels, instituting gender‑neutral combat fitness tests, requiring physical tests and height/weight checks twice a year, daily physical training across the joint force, stricter grooming rules (clean‑shaven and uniform haircuts with medical and religious exemptions), and a requirement that combat arms jobs meet the 'highest male standard' for combat roles; reporting also ties this to his prior pledge to cut the general officer corps by ~20% and to having already removed about two dozen senior officers.
• The worldwide summons and order to pull so many senior leaders simultaneously prompted bewilderment among military and congressional officials and questions about costs, travel disruptions, and whether remote participation was offered—Sen. Tammy Duckworth formally asked for details.
• Some senior civilian Department of Defense officials pushed back on narratives of an internal split, saying the National Defense Strategy was coordinated with senior civilian and military leaders; the Pentagon said reports of a split were 'false' and that Joint Chiefs feedback (including from Gen. Dan Caine) had been solicited and addressed.
• On‑the‑ground reporting highlighted morale and retention concerns—particularly among high‑ranking women officers who vowed to fight the policy shifts and expressed fear of being pushed out—and noted broader cultural moves (including reported removal of some historical records of early women and Black troops) that critics say affect role models and institutional memory.
• Former senior officers reacted publicly: retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges called the fitness and rules‑of‑engagement proposals 'completely unnecessary' and 'almost a medieval approach' and warned that loosening ROE or disregarding international law would hurt mission effectiveness, troop psychology, and relations with allies.

📰 Sources (16)