Overview

• Addressing nearly 800 generals, admirals and senior enlisted leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Trump called crime and migration a “war from within” and said forces would go to Chicago “very soon.”
• Trump said he told Hegseth to use “dangerous cities” as training grounds for the military and pointed to deployments in Washington, D.C., and Memphis, with troops announced for Portland.
• He said he has ordered the creation of military quick‑reaction forces to quell civil disturbances, a step drawing scrutiny under the Posse Comitatus Act’s limits on domestic law enforcement.
• Hegseth pledged to remake Pentagon culture with stricter fitness and grooming requirements, an overhaul of equal‑opportunity and inspector‑general complaint processes, and male combat standards.
• The president warned officers that disagreeing could cost their rank or future and suggested personnel spat on during crowd‑control missions should be allowed to “hit” back.