By Robbie Gramer and Shelby Holliday
President Trump plans to join an unusual gathering of top U.S. military commanders that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will convene Tuesday.
Trump's presence will add a further twist to the meeting at a Marine base south of Washington, where Hegseth is expected to address the senior officers and enlisted leaders on his calls to cultivate a "warrior ethos" in the armed services and other priorities of the Pentagon's civilian leadership.
"It is really just a very nice meeting talking about how well we're doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things," Trump told NBC News Sunday. "We have some great people coming in and it is just an 'esprit de corps.' You know the expression 'esprit de corps'? That is all it is about."
Some 800 generals and admirals as well as senior enlisted members were ordered on short notice to convene at Quantico, Va., for the event. There is no precedent in recent decades for an in-person meeting involving the commander in chief and so many of the top ranking members of the armed services.
The Pentagon didn't respond to requests for comment on Trump's involvement in the meeting, which was reported earlier by the Washington Post.
Invitees were told to wear dress uniforms, according to several military officials. Some current and former administration officials said that generals and admirals should be able to join the event remotely, rather than leave their commands, many of which are overseas, to attend.
"This is enormously disruptive. All told, the price tag is in the tens-of-millions to fly these officers here, not to mention distracting them from executing their important missions for no clear reason," said John Ullyot, a former Pentagon chief spokesman under Trump. "It is confusing at best."
Hegseth has faced scrutiny over his management style in recent months and is the subject of a Pentagon inspector general report on whether he mishandled classified information in posting information about a U.S. attack against Yemen last March in unclassified chat groups.
The administration is expected to make public soon its national defense strategy, which some officials suggested could be one of the reasons for the meeting.
Trump "can't miss out on a show," said Jim Townsend, a former senior career civilian Pentagon official. "By the time he's done, they will be way off schedule, all the oxygen will be sucked out of the room, and 'second fiddle' Hegseth will have no time left."
The meeting comes as the U.S. has conducted multiple airstrikes against boats suspected of carrying drugs from Venezuela.
Trump on Saturday said he was ordering troops to Portland, Ore., which he described as "War Ravaged" in a social-media post that said the forces would have authority to use "Full Force" to protect federal facilities and to combat "antifa," a term referring to antifascist protesters.
Hegseth's invitation to commanders shared no details on what the meeting was about, fueling fears among the military ranks that he could use the gathering to fire more top military brass. But Trump said it would be a cordial meeting with Hegseth.
"Let him be friendly with the generals and admirals from all over the world," Trump told NBC, referring to Hegseth. "You act like this is a bad thing. Isn't it nice that people are coming from all over the world to be with us?"
Hegseth said last month that he had eliminated "woke culture and so-called diversity, equity and inclusion programs" in the military. He has fired over 20 top military commanders, including recently the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse. Hegseth has called for a further culling of four-star generals and admirals in what he has characterized as a bid to streamline the Pentagon's leadership.
Write to Robbie Gramer at robbie.gramer@wsj.com and Shelby Holliday at shelby.holliday@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 28, 2025 18:08 ET (22:08 GMT)
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