# Hegseth calls all of the top military brass together for an in person meeting **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [September 26, 2025, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409 "2025-09-26T02:40:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/101 "2025-09-29T01:36:26Z")
**Moderating:** Modnudge, not even a note: Let’s not stumble too far off-topic with the jokes and gags. It’s been about half of the last twenty of so posts. I may enjoy them as much as the next poster, but it does mean sometimes on-topic information gets drowned out by the next one liner. Seriously, just a nudge. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/102 "2025-09-29T21:39:03Z")
One theory: Donald wants to make a speech in which he brags about “bringing law and order back to Los Angeles” and “ending crime in DC” and other references to using the military against American citizens—-with thunderous applause from the assembled generals. (Real, and/or easily faked up in the edit.) Then he can use the footage to further his propaganda aims of “normalizing” the presence of US troops in cities. So handy when the next Election Day rolls around! > … I expect he’ll praise himself for ordering the killing of civilians on fishing boats in the Caribbean that the administration insists, with no evidence or legal analysis, are drug runners engaged in acts of war. He may well defend his deployment of troops within the United States against “domestic terrorism.” He could seek approbation for other problematic policies or opinions. > > **The point will be to force the generals to applaud such statements, to broadcast that applause—and thereby to signal to all their troops, and to the American public, that the military brass is on board with Trump’s authoritarian agenda**. The message would be that this is not simply the United States military but that it is Donald Trump’s military. (My bolding.) Of course this goal could be combined with others, such as forcing each general and admiral to pledge their fealty to Donald Trump, personally. > **[Remember: They Are Not His Generals.](https://www.thebulwark.com/p/remember-they-are-not-his-generals-trump-hegseth-quantico-generals-flag-officers)** > > Tomorrow’s gathering of hundreds of general and flag officers has an ominous tone about it. Attendees should go in prepared. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/103 "2025-09-29T22:47:27Z")
/tinfoil hat It’s all a plot by TFG’s good pal Putin. Putin used the magic subliminal trigger word ‘sir’ in addressing TFG during the summit in Alaska suggesting to him that it would be a good idea to get all the military brass in one place at one time, and then to attend it himself. The only remaining parts that need to be put into play are to get the Vice President and the Speaker of the House within the blast radius of the nuke that’s going to hit the Pentagon. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/104 "2025-09-29T22:48:27Z")
Okay, call me an alarmist or Chicken Little (or Chick-Fil-A), but I think something much more ominous, damaging, and far-reaching than just trump standing up (as able) and pulling his… _um_… rabbits out of hats for the benefit of senior troops. Don’t we almost always UNDERestimate how extreme his pronouncements are going to be and don’t his proclamations always turn out to be much worse than we could have imagined? However low he goes, the next time, yup, he outdoes (or _under_does) himself. It wouldn’t surprise me if he fires/removes/places on permanent leave or whatever maneuver sort of fulfills military regulations, first, ALL the women, all the Blacks, and all who were born outside the CONUS OR have parents who were. Second, he arbitrarily disposes of half of all the white men who are left. Of those, if they want to keep their jobs, they will have to swear a loyalty oath to him personally. If they refuse, they’re out, too. I’ll be surprised if this is just a dog and pony show. More of a dogfight ending with a trip to the glue factory. Tell me I am overreacting in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/105 "2025-09-29T22:54:02Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Don’t we almost always UNDERestimate how extreme his pronouncements are going to be and don’t his proclamations always turn out to be much worse than we could have imagined? Not always. Sometimes, he’s just unveiling a new grift, like NFTs or something. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/106 "2025-09-29T23:37:50Z")
I think there is going to be military action to coincide with the government shutdown. Probably have the military take over the running of elections in blue cities, too ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/107 "2025-09-30T00:31:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not always. Sometimes, he’s just unveiling a new grift, like NFTs or something. Now that would be funny, but I could almost see him starting a new NFT or Crypto currency and requiring all them to purchase some. IOW, ‘each of you has to give me $100,000 to keep your job’. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/108 "2025-09-30T00:33:03Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I think there is going to be military action to coincide with the government shutdown. Probably have the military take over the running of elections in blue cities, too If they do that I don’t think they’ll limit it to just the Blue areas. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/109 "2025-09-30T00:36:51Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > within the blast radius of the nuke that’s going to hit the Pentagon. Which would be hilarious, because they’re meeting at Quantico, which is something like 30 miles away from the Pentagon. The US military then reenacts the famous scene from Pulp Fiction. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tmGDiyxAS98/maxresdefault.jpg "God stops the bullets (Samuel L. Jackson is the best 😂) | Pulp Fiction | CLIP") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmGDiyxAS98&t=41) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/110 "2025-09-30T00:47:41Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > IOW, ‘each of you has to give me $100,000 to keep your job’. That thought occurred to me, too. And it’s not outside the realm of possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/111 "2025-09-30T00:53:18Z")
Make no mistake: The top brass are being called on to take sides now. And they’d better choose very, VERY carefully. One side is loyalty to the constitution and the oath that they swore when entering service. To the continuation of the country that has elections and a military that does not kill unarmed American civilians. The other side is to abandon their former oaths and swear fealty to a warlord and dictator. To swear to use the military to put down civilian dissent, using lethal force. If they know anything about history, they will know that this choice usually leads to a bad outcome for the generals involved. “I was just following orders” will not cut it. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/112 "2025-09-30T00:55:41Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > **he point will be to force the generals to applaud such statements, to broadcast that applause—and thereby to signal to all their troops, and to the American public, that the military brass is on board with Trump’s authoritarian agenda**. I wonder if the first general to [stop applauding](https://historyinsights.com/11-minute-applause/) will be summarily executed. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/113 "2025-09-30T00:57:11Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > If they do that I don’t think they’ll limit it to just the Blue areas. The troop deployments to blue cities that we’re seeing now are clearly going to extend through the midterms and ensure that turnout in the cities is suppressed enough that the GOP won (or didn’t lose as badly). The troops are not needed in red state America as they are hostile to democracy and support Trump’s authoritarianism. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/114 "2025-09-30T01:16:25Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > ensure that turnout in the cities is suppressed enough that the GOP won (or didn’t lose as badly). This is pretty clearly the intent. I don’t think Trump is even aware of this plan - the people pulling his strings sure are though. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/115 "2025-09-30T01:50:12Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > This is pretty clearly the intent. I don’t think Trump is even aware of this plan - the people pulling his strings sure are though. You see that article that alleges Stephen Miller is pretty much in charge at the White House? > **[Stephen Miller takes leading role in strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/stephen-miller-venezuela-drug-boat-strike)** > > Exclusive: Miller’s homeland security council has played a key part in coordinating operations, sources say > **[President Miller Reportedly Ordering Boats Blown Up While Old Man Trump Naps,...](https://www.wonkette.com/p/president-miller-reportedly-ordering)** > > The real power behind the throne. Terrifyingly. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/116 "2025-09-30T01:50:48Z")
Not surprised at all. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/117 "2025-09-30T02:02:05Z")
Seems rather reckless to gather all of your generals and admirals in one place along with the Defense (not War) Secretary and announce the location and place in advance. My guesses for the purpose: - Each general brings $5 to chip in for a barrel of beer and they party down - They will be told to kneel before the Orange God and pledge loyalty to him over country - They will develop a comprehensive war plan to take over Greenland - They will be scolded for the military not looking fierce enough on Donald’s birthday parade and mandatory goosestepping training will begin immediately ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/118 "2025-09-30T02:49:14Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > And they’d better choose very, VERY carefully. One side is loyalty to the constitution and the oath that they swore when entering service. To the continuation of the country that has elections and a military that does not kill unarmed American civilians. They should just lie. Take the Trump Oath, but ignore it. If nothing else, it makes Trump and Hegseth waste time firing each of them in turn when they later refuse illegal orders, and they set a good example for more junior officers. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/119 "2025-09-30T02:54:03Z")
The first (and possibly only) example the JOs would see is the Flags swearing fealty to a tyrant ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409/120 "2025-09-30T09:11:54Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The troop deployments to blue cities that we’re seeing now are clearly going to extend through the midterms and ensure that turnout in the cities is suppressed enough that the GOP won (or didn’t lose as badly). The troops are not needed in red state America as they are hostile to democracy and support Trump’s authoritarianism. I didn’t say the troops are needed in the Red areas for the election. They will, however, inevitably be put there because the goal is total control. I can’t wait for when the fascists come for the guns. Fascists always come for the guns because, again, they want total control. They want to remove the ability of the exploited and oppressed to fight back, and in the end it will be a small group of elites at the top (scrambling over each other in a cut-throat clique desperate maintain their position and power) and everyone else at the bottom, to be exploited, their value extracted, and then discarded like used banana peels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseth-calls-all-of-the-top-military-brass-together-for-an-in-person-meeting/1023409.md?page=7)