Trump to Chair Unusual Military Gathering at Marine Base in Virginia

U.S. President Donald Trump will on Tuesday preside over an extraordinary meeting of America’s top generals and admirals from around the world, summoned last week without explanation to a Marine base in Virginia.

Trump said he plans to use the face-to-face session at Marine Corps University in Quantico to tell senior commanders, “We love them.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will speak on one of his favored themes — the “warrior ethos.”

The gathering comes after sweeping changes at the Pentagon in Trump’s first eight months in office, including the ouster of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Navy’s top admiral, a ban on certain books in military academies, and a deadly strike on a suspected drug boat off Venezuela’s coast.

These shifts have fueled speculation within the military and among the broader American public that the meeting may go far beyond a morale-building exercise. Observers suggest it could involve discussion of reshuffling senior ranks or redefining U.S. defense priorities. “What will actually be discussed is anyone’s guess,” one U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

The military leaders will also be under scrutiny for how they respond to any overtly political remarks by Trump, who has often drawn the armed forces into partisan debates. By tradition and law, the U.S. military is expected to remain nonpartisan, loyal to the Constitution, and independent of any political party.

The talks follow Monday’s announcement of a planned National Guard deployment in Chicago, the latest American city where Trump has sought to send troops despite local opposition. Over the weekend, he revealed plans to deploy Guard units to Portland, Oregon, and earlier this year dispatched Guard troops and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles.

Speaking to Reuters on Sunday, Trump described the Quantico meeting as “a military spirit.” He added: “I want to tell the generals that we love them. They are beloved leaders, and they must be strong, tough, smart, and kind.”

Trump’s presence may overshadow Hegseth, who convened the gathering of commanders, including those deployed across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. In nearly every public address, Hegseth stresses the need for a “warrior mindset” in the U.S. armed forces, a theme he is expected to revisit Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense back to the “Department of War,” its original designation until after World War II, when officials sought to emphasize the Pentagon’s role in preventing conflict.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has moved quickly to rebrand and reshape the department in line with Trump’s national security agenda, while dismantling diversity programs he has labeled discriminatory.