On September 30, 2025, at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, an unusual scene unfolded — one that may signal the start of a deep military crisis in the United States. President Donald Trump, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, addressed nearly 800 generals, admirals, and senior enlisted advisors — summoned at short notice from global outposts, at considerable taxpayer expense, just as whispers of a government shutdown loomed. What was billed as an unusual military gathering quickly turned into a clash.

Hegseth, in a 45-minute tirade, lambasted “fat generals” and decried the Pentagon’s “decades of decay” under diversity initiatives, vowing an end to “dudes in dresses,” “climate-change worship,” and accommodations for women in combat roles. “If the words I’m speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” he declared, all while announcing a return to “highest male standards” for fitness tests.

Trump followed with an hour-long address that veered from attacks against the Democrats to dire warnings of “domestic enemies” and a “war from within.” The Republican President talked about turning “dangerous cities” (historically Democrat) like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles into “training grounds” for the military, mentioning the deployment of federal troops and “quick reaction forces” to places including Portland — a move that has already prompted lawsuits and legal scrutiny, following an earlier........

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