Trump: ‘I’ve Never Walked into a Room So Silent Before’

There are roughly 830 U.S. generals serving in the United States and around the world. If the stars on their shoulders were combined, they would amount to 1,500. On Sept. 30, at the Marine Corps base in Virginia, these stars came together. This is because President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth convened a meeting of all top military commanders. Four-star Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of United States Forces Korea, also attended.

It is difficult to find a previous instance in which the U.S. president, secretary of defense and all top military leadership gathered in one place. This is because the meeting itself is a significant security threat. Commanders leaving their military bases around the world is already a problem. What’s more concerning, however, is that if all top military leaders gather in one building, terrorist groups targeting the United States have an unprecedented opportunity. In the days leading up to the meeting, there was growing interest in why the meeting had been called, despite the significant risks. In 1934, Adolf Hitler gathered the generals of the German military and demanded they pledge their loyalty to him. Considering the one-by-one dismissal of high-ranking generals following the start of Trump’s second term, concerns have been raised that something similar could occur.

In front of 1,500 stars, Hegseth stressed the importance of getting haircuts and shaving. He said that beards and long hair are strictly forbidden, and overweight military members are unacceptable. It was the type of lecture a company commander might give to his soldiers about life in the barracks. Hegseth was very strict about military discipline, yet he himself is being investigated over suspicion of leaking classified information about an air strike on Yemen’s Houthis to his family via instant messaging. The seasoned veterans, highly experienced through years in the field, quietly listened to the ideological lecture given by Hegseth, a man who briefly served as a major in the National Guard. U.S. media pointed out that this kind of message would have been better sent in an email.

After Hegseth finished his speech, Trump took the stage, praising himself for his crackdown on illegal immigration while also telling the generals that they should wage a war within the United States. He also said that anti-crackdown protesters should be labeled as enemies, calling for the strongest Democratic cities, such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, to be used as training grounds for the military. “If you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room,” Trump said, adding, “Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future.” His words carried a warning: If you don’t want to follow my policies, then take off your uniform.

The Sept. 30 meeting felt more like Trump and Hegseth’s personal political talk show. It seems they expected that simply sitting down the commanders from the world’s most powerful military and giving them all a lecture on ideology would, in itself, show off their strength. However, not everything went Trump’s way. During the speech that lasted more than two hours, the estimated 830 generals did not clap even once and remained expressionless throughout. In U.S. media, this was even described as an act of silent resistance. It was so noticeable that Trump even said, “I’ve never walked into a room so silent before.” For the generals, maintaining composure in the face of insulting remarks from a secretary of defense with little military experience and a president who never served would have been their own “war from within.”