Trump threatens war on American citizens during military speech
Last week, President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth abruptly summoned hundreds of admirals and generals from around the world to a hastily arranged meeting at Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday. There, Secretary Hegseth used his time to lecture the military’s most senior leaders, highly educated individuals with decades of experience, on the supposed dangers of “wokeness.” Trump, likewise, treated the summit like a campaign rally, bragging about tariff revenue and renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
But beyond the spectacle of two men—one a former Fox News host credibly accused of domestic violence and the other a draft dodger with questionable mental stability—posturing before the nation’s top military brass was one of the most alarming examples of encroaching fascism in recent memory. During the two hour event, Trump and Hegseth made clear their intention to weaponize the armed forces to crush domestic dissent.
Rather than just paraphrasing their statements, this post will present them as stated with timestamped links to the video—because their own words are more chilling than any commentary could be.
Hegseth announces policies that will push out Black servicemembers:
"Today, at my direction, the era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beardos. The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done. Simply put, if you don't meet the male-level physical standards for combat positions, cannot pass a PT test or don't want to shave and look professional, it's time for a new position."
Hegseth announces policies that will increase harassment and abuse:
"A blemish-free record is what peacetime leaders covet the most, which is the worst of all incentives… We are overhauling an inspector general process that has been weaponized, putting complainers and poor performers in the driver seat. We are doing the same with the equal opportunity policies. No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints ... no more walking on eggshells."
"We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."
Hegseth says “earnest mistakes” will no longer be tracked by the military:
”And when we give you this guidance, we know mistakes will be made. It's the nature of leadership. But you should not pay for earnest mistakes for your entire career. And that's why today at my direction, we're making changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable, earnest, or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity.”
Hegseth urges any military leaders who disagree to resign:
”But if the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign."
Trump threatens to fire military leaders who disagree with him:
”I’ve never walked into a room so silent before … if you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future, but you just feel nice and loose, okay? Because we're all on the same team.”
Trump declares America “under invasion from within”:
"America is under invasion from within. We're under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don't wear uniforms. At least when they're wearing a uniform you can take them out. These people don’t have uniforms. But we’re under invasion from within."
Trump tells military members they will be conducting “war” in Democratic-led cities:
"The Democrats run most of the cities that are in bad shape…The ones that are run by radical left Democrats—what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They're very unsafe places and we're going to straighten them out one by one. This is going to be a major part for some people in this room. That's a war, too. It's war from within."
Trump declares he wants to use Democratic-led cities as “training grounds” for the military:
"I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military. National Guard, but our military. Because we're going into Chicago very soon. That's a big city with an incompetent governor. Stupid governor."
Trump asserts the military will be used to crush domestic dissent:
"Last month, I signed an executive order to provide training for a quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances. This is gonna be a big thing for the people in this room, because it's the enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of control."
Trump declares war on American citizens:
"Our history is filled with military heroes who took on all enemies foreign and domestic. You know that phrase very well. That's what the oath says: foreign and domestic. Well we also have domestic."
A full transcript of Trump's portion of the speech can be found here: https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-speech-department-of-defense-leaders-quantico-september-30-2025/