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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/30\/us\/hegseth-troops-address.html?emc=edit_nn_20261001&nl=the-morning&segment_id=227346",
    "parsed_content": "War\u00a0in the Middle EastDiplomatic EffortsHouthi-Saudi\u00a0ConflictU.S. Cost of WarAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u2018No Beardos, No Weirdos, No Wimps\u2019: Hegseth Lays Out His Military VisionIn his \u201cState of the Force\u201d address, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth focused on the culture war and accused reporters of \u201ctreason\u201d over Iran war coverage.Listen \u00b7 6:18 min Share full articleVideoIn Speech, Hegseth Targets Diversity and Transgender PeopleIn his \u201cState of the Force\u201d address on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doubled down on his decisions to fire dozens of admirals and generals and bar transgender people.CreditCredit...ReutersBy Helene Cooper and John IsmayReporting from WashingtonSept. 30, 2026See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gathered hundreds of junior officers and enlisted troops at a base in Virginia on Wednesday to extol the virtues of basing Pentagon policy on culture-war issues and to complain about the news media.Calling it a \u201cState of the Force\u201d address, Mr. Hegseth doubled down on his decisions to fire dozens of admirals and generals, bar transgender people from serving and eliminate diversity programs. And not for the first time, he used vulgarities to describe certain groups of Americans.\u201cNo fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals,\u201d he said of the people who he believes have no place in the military.As he pointed to a few reporters in the back of the auditorium, the defense secretary criticized \u201canti-American losers in our media,\u201d accusing them of aiding the country\u2019s enemies through their reporting on the war in Iran.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cIt\u2019s treason, actually,\u201d he said of the reporting. \u201cI mean, I hate to have to say it, but it has to be said.\u201dThe event at the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Va., reprised a session there in September last year in which he berated more than 800 generals and admirals about the need to slim down and to be more \u201clethal.\u201dThe gathering on Wednesday was in many ways a rehash of the cultural stances Mr. Hegseth championed a year ago, but it was a lesser version of last year\u2019s production, which included an appearance by President Trump.The defense secretary praised the war against Iran \u2014 in which he declared victory just weeks after it began but has now dragged into a seven-month campaign \u2014 as a courageous operation \u201cthat every red-blooded American is proud of.\u201dHe used the last portion of his remarks to announce new initiatives for the Pentagon.They included the creation of a new \u201cautonomous warfare command\u201d for robotics, which he said would be the equivalent of the military\u2019s geographic and functional combatant commands.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe secretary pointed out three civilians in attendance, Elon Musk, the Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey, who wore a blazer over his signature Hawaiian shirt, and a former House speaker, Newt Gingrich. He called them \u201cthree of our nations\u2019 best minds\u201d and said they would lead a new effort called Project Meridian to study the future of warfare.Sign up for the On Politics newsletter. It's a pivotal moment for American politics. Join us for 2026 and beyond. Get it sent to your inbox.Mr. Hegseth said he would meet with the three men at a secure facility on the base in Quantico immediately after his speech.He also stated his intent to build a new military base \u2014 what he called \u201ca fortress\u201d \u2014 somewhere in the United States, saying that state governors would compete to host it and offer hundreds of thousands of acres of state land to build it.Tens of thousands of U.S. troops currently stationed overseas would be sent back to the United States and based at the \u201cfortress,\u201d he said, without explaining which countries would see a reduction in U.S. forces.The Pentagon has been reviewing its force posture overseas, particularly in Europe, with an eye toward reducing the number of troops stationed outside the United States. In May, Mr. Hegseth announced he was canceling a deployment of troops to Poland only to be quickly overruled by Mr. Trump.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTAs usual, Mr. Hegseth wove religious language and Christian themes throughout his address and derided \u201csecular humanism,\u201d adding that he had established an office of religious affairs that would report directly to him.The address allowed Mr. Hegseth to lay out his planned changes without facing questions from reporters about them or the war. The last time he gave a briefing on the Iran war to reporters at the Pentagon was in early May.Nonetheless, he is the public face of the deeply unpopular war with Iran.Thousands of Iranians and 18 U.S. service members have been killed in the conflict, which the United States and Israel started seven months ago. In one episode at the start of the war, more than 175 civilians, many of them children, were killed when a U.S. airstrike hit a school in southern Iran.Despite the Trump administration\u2019s claims to the contrary, Iran has retained its ballistic missile and drone capability, and its leadership has vowed never to give up its civilian nuclear program. As Iran\u2019s fighting skills have evolved, the U.S. military burned through its munitions.As gas prices rise because of the conflict, U.S. voters have grown more frustrated ahead of the midterm elections.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMr. Hegseth has also not been able to get a Pentagon budget request for more funding approved, and has alienated not only Democrats but also some Republicans the administration needs to pass $1.5 trillion in new financing. In addition, a Republican congressman is leading a drive to impeach Mr. Hegseth. He also does not have Senate-confirmed leaders to head the Army, the country\u2019s biggest military service, or the Navy.At the end of his remarks, Mr. Hegseth received a standing ovation. Last year\u2019s speech was greeted by stone-faced generals and admirals who made sure not to cheer, per the norms of a nonpartisan military.\u201cLast year\u2019s Quantico event was a tough test for the military,\u201d said Peter D. Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University who has studied the military for decades.\u201cThe president gave a campaign-rally speech full of partisan applause lines, and the secretary gave a speech full of critique of his predecessor\u2019s policies,\u201d Mr. Feaver said. \u201cBut the senior officers listened respectfully and quietly, making it clear by their decorum that they were nonpartisan and yet prepared to carry out all lawful orders even if it meant a change in policy direction.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-30T18:18:58+00:00",
    "author_name": "Helene Cooper and John Ismay",
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    "ai_headline": "\u2018No Beardos, No Weirdos, No Wimps\u2019: Hegseth Lays Out His Military Vision",
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