When US President Donald Trump walked onto the stage at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Tuesday, he quipped: “I’ve never walked into a room so silent before.”
Before him sat hundreds of generals and admirals, one of the largest gatherings of US military brass in modern history. The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had already stunned the audience by declaring the Department of Defence the 'War Department.' Now it was Trump’s turn to speak.
The president encouraged the officers to laugh, applaud, or even walk out, joking that if they left, “there goes your rank, there goes your future.”
Backing Hegseth’s War Department reset
Trump praised Hegseth’s decision to rebrand the Department of Defence as the Department of War, calling it a 'historic reassertion' of America’s purpose. He claimed critics had grown tired of attacking him, saying: “I expected more fury from the left, but they’re just rolling over now.”
The president framed the name change as part of a broader effort to 're-awaken the warrior spirit', declaring: “I am with you. I support you. As president, I have your backs 100 percent.”
Promises of money, ships, and strength
Trump pledged more than $1 trillion in military spending for 2026, up from the already massive $895 billion approved for 2025.
He announced plans to expand the Navy by 19 new ships, submarines, destroyers, and assault ships, though he complained that some designs were 'ugly.' He called the armed forces a 'fighting and winning machine' that would not be bound by political correctness.
“The purpose of the American military is not to protect anyone’s feelings. It’s to protect our republic,” he said.
A meandering Trump performance
In classic Trump fashion, the speech veered beyond military policy. He riffed on:
- Tariffs: calling them one of his proudest tools.
- The Nobel Peace Prize: lamenting that he hasn’t won one. (Trump says not winning Nobel Peace Prize would be 'insult' to our country)
- Ending wars: mentioning, once again, of ending a military escalation between India and Pakistan.
- Joe Biden and the autopen: mocking his predecessor for allegedly using a machine to sign promotion papers.
- Personal nostalgia: recalling the WWII documentary Victory at Sea as inspiration for thinking about battleships.
He even suggested to Hegseth that America’s crime-ridden cities could be used as military training grounds, and floated deploying the National Guard to Chicago and Portland.
'A great spiritizing' despite the cost
Trump acknowledged the steep cost of flying in hundreds of commanders for the Quantico summit but dismissed concerns. “We’d rather spend it on bullets and rockets, frankly,” he said, “but this was the one time we had to do a great spiritizing.”
“They spit, we hit”
Trump also used the Quantico stage to signal a tougher stance on domestic unrest. Recalling protests against immigration enforcement, he said troops and federal law enforcement officers should be able to respond physically if attacked or harassed by demonstrators.
“She starts spitting in his face and he’s not allowed to do anything,” Trump said. “If it’s OK with you, generals and admirals, I’ve taken that off. I say, ‘They spit. We hit.’ Is that OK? We think so.”
The remark drew attention because the president had already authorised the deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, despite a lawsuit from the state challenging his authority. Similar deployments have been made in Memphis and Los Angeles.
Backlash from former military leaders
The Quantico spectacle didn’t go unanswered. Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton, speaking to The New York Times, praised the serving officers for keeping their composure but blasted the event itself.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our highest-ranking leaders for maintaining an apolitical face under immense pressure,” Eaton said.
“But Pete Hegseth spent millions to fly in all of our generals and admirals to rant about facial hair and brag about how many pull-ups he can do, and have Donald Trump sleepwalk through a list of partisan gripes.”
“Department of War will stop wars”
Trump doubled down on the rebranding, insisting the new name would act as a deterrent in itself.
“The Department of War is going to stop wars,” he said, while noting that Congress would still need to approve the formal change.
He promised further announcements to “fully embrace the identity of the Department of War,” vowing that the U.S. Armed Forces would soon be 'totally unmatched.'
The president ended his roughly one-hour-long remarks with sweeping praise for the military’s sacrifice and tradition:
“America's military has charged into hellfire, climbed up jagged mountains, crossed roaring oceans, and thundered across open deserts to defend our flag, our freedom and our homeland. Nobody does it like you.”
Before leaving the stage, he turned his fire on the Biden administration, calling it full of 'incompetent people.'
“We are the United States military. The best, the boldest, the bravest that the world has ever seen,” Trump said. “We will fight, fight, fight, and we will win, win, win.”
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