Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday declared the U.S. military free of its "woke" shackles and presented the nation's highest-ranking military officials an ultimatum: Don't like it? Quit.
Why it matters: Trump 2.0 promised to overhaul the Pentagon, everything from axing old-school weapons programs to effecting a MAGA-friendly cultural reset. Both are underway.
- "The new compass heading is clear," Hegseth said, speaking to an auditorium full of generals and admirals whom he summoned to a Marine Corps base in Virginia.
- "Out with the Chiarellis, the McKenzies and the Milleys, and in with the Stockdales, the Schwarzkopfs and the Pattons," he said, dissing recent military leaders while praising past commanders.
Driving the news: Hegseth's speech yearned for the days of old — mentioning World War II and the First Gulf War — and put special emphasis on outward appearance: physical strength, clean-shaven faces.
- "No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses," the defense secretary said.
- "If you want a beard, you can join special forces. If not, then shave. We don't have a military full of Nordic pagans."
- Hegseth suggested "fat" recruits and women who couldn't pass muster were pulling their units down with them.
Between the lines: This is Hegseth's central casting moment. Much like President Trump, he wants his team to look the part and take him seriously.
- "You love the War Department because you love what you do, the profession of arms. You are hereby liberated to be an apolitical, hard-charging, no nonsense, constitutional leader that you joined the military to be," he said.
- "No more distractions, no more political ideologies, no more debris."
Zoom out: Trump himself played into Hegseth's decree, telling reporters at the White House he would fire military brass "on the spot" if he disliked them.
- He then headed to Quantico and told the assembled generals that they looked straight out of "central casting."
- "If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room," Trump said, once onstage. "Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future."
- The audience chuckled.
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