Hegseth brands Pentagon ‘no longer woke,’ defends removals of top generals
In a State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed a plan to cut 20 percent of US generals and admirals — the latest step in the Trump administration’s reshaping of the senior military ranks.
Hegseth framed the cuts in ideological terms. “Generals who clung to the woke department, or seemed to think civilian control of the military is simply a suggestion, well, they no longer work here,” Hegseth said, according to The Guardian’s account of the speech.
Hegseth went further in describing the culture he said he was establishing. “But it’s worth saying again, so the fake news understands it,” he said. “We are no longer the woke department or the weak department. Simple translation of that: no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.”
The defense secretary dismissed reports of low morale within the armed forces as “false claims” and said the military was retaining service personnel at “record” rates. He pointed to retention figures from the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying about 80 percent of the carrier’s crew had been retained. The Lincoln was at sea for 286 days before disembarking on September 1 in a Thai resort city; the deployment had been scheduled to end in May but was extended amid Trump’s war on Iran.
Eight US Navy personnel assigned to the Lincoln attempted suicide since the start of that deployment, according to reports last week. Hegseth appeared to reference the carrier while attacking media coverage, calling reports of deployment length and low troop morale “disingenuous headlines” and “flat-out propaganda, as if it’s written by our adversaries.”
Hegseth used the address to announce a new Pentagon project on the “future of warfare” that will include Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey — a top Trump donor and ally whose company, Anduril Industries, is a major defense technology company — and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The Guardian previously reported that Anduril received billions in government contracts over the last year.
The Quantico speech also touched on military education. Hegseth branded Ivy League universities and liberal arts colleges “DEI-worshipping woke factories,” institutions Trump has targeted routinely since returning to office. Hegseth is himself a graduate of Harvard and Princeton universities, both Ivy League institutions.
Hegseth announced a series of educational partnerships intended to replace those pipelines. The new partners include Liberty University and Hillsdale College — institutions known for conservative values — along with Louisiana State University, Mississippi University, and Tuskegee University.
Earlier in the address, Hegseth had outlined the priorities he said the military would now pursue. “The only focus, as you know, in your formations should be training, readiness, accountability, discipline and lethality,” Hegseth said. “And when you pursue those things, you don’t have to walk on eggshells.”
He added: “The complainers, the ideologues and the poor performers are no longer in the driver’s seat.”