Trump defends using troops to police U.S. cities in address to military leaders

[Celerity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/30/trump-hegseth-generals-meeting-live/

https://archive.ph/0RnGQ


President Donald Trump is greeted by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth before speaking to a gathering of top U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended the administration’s use of the military to police U.S. cities, decrying “the enemy within” and citing presidents early in the country’s history who “used the armed forces to keep domestic order and peace.” His comments came during an address to hundreds of senior U.S. military officers during an extraordinary meeting that has placed many of the Pentagon’s top generals and admirals in one room. Earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pledged to fix “decades of decay” in the military, which he blamed on “foolish and reckless politicians.” The gathering, at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, was ordered by Hegseth last week and required some top military officers across the globe to fly thousands of miles on short notice to attend.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/30/trump-hegseth-generals-meeting-live/#link-A6LVQQMOSRBQDOAUHKBSLT4DUE

President Donald Trump wrapped his speech to military leaders at Quantico after about an hour and 10 minutes — remarks that characteristically veered from topic to topic. While he spoke at times about military strength, he also addressed his love of tariffs, for example, and repeatedly praised the work of firefighters.

Notable military leaders in the audience for Trump, Hegseth summit

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/30/trump-hegseth-generals-meeting-live/#link-GPSCNDGG2JFWDNMIS2MDJ4Q4PM


At right, the U.S. Special Operations Command chief, Gen. Bryan Fenton sits with other military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, where President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed senior military officers Tuesday.


Center, Gen. Eric M. Smith, the commandant of the Marine Corps, sits with other military leaders as they listen to Trump’s address.


Seated at the end of the second row is Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander, U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/30/trump-hegseth-generals-meeting-live/#link-GYFNBMCT4BD63EDI2WU6BDLLOI

The Pentagon’s top generals and admirals listened with little visible emotion as President Donald Trump spoke, keeping with military protocol as their commander in chief sought to elicit reaction, according to pool reports. One naval officer took notes while others sat silently. Laughter occasionally followed a joke, but Trump’s attacks on former president Joe Biden were met with silence.

Trump says military leaders will be ‘major part’ of fighting ‘war from within’ in American cities

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/30/trump-hegseth-generals-meeting-live/#link-2GDRTPA5CVDIHK45WV4EIFD42Y

In his speech to top military leaders, President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against the “radical left,” repeatedly calling the group “the enemy within” and insisting that he should be able to use military force in American cities.

“I told [Defense Secretary] Pete [Hegseth] we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military National Guard. But military, because we’re going into Chicago,” Trump said Tuesday at Quantico, referring to his efforts to deploy military to blue cities and states “to keep domestic order and peace.”

Though Trump has, in recent months, frequently attacked blue cities and states, it was the first time he directly addressed military leaders and told them they would be “a major part” of fighting a “war from within” in cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

“We’ve brought back the fundamental principle that defending the homeland is the military’s first and most important priority. That’s what it is,” Trump said. “Only in recent decades that politicians somehow come to believe that our job is to police the far reaches of Kenya and Somalia, while America is under invasion from within. We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms — at least when they’re wearing a uniform, you can take them out. These people don’t have uniforms, but we are under invasion from within, and we’re stopping it very quickly.”

snip

[intrepidity]

1. He's right about the "invasion from within"

But I hope those military recognize who that enemy really is.

I mean, he just granted them the authority to go after those enemies. Will they?

[Ping Tung]

2. He's declared war on the American people.

Will the troops soon be saying "I was just following orders".?

[Celerity]

3. Trump Declares War on American Cities in Room Full of Military Leaders

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220686598

[Ping Tung]

5. I just read that and commented. Thanks for posting this.

[Celerity]

6. yw

[dalton99a]

4. +1

[UTUSN]

7. K&R

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. MaddowBlog-Trump pitches generals and admirals on using U.S. cities as military 'training grounds'

Last edited Tue Sep 30, 2025, 05:42 PM - Edit history (1)

Much of the president’s speech to military leaders was stale and dull. But then he started talking about using the military against the “enemy within.”

Much of Trump’s speech to generals and admirals was stale, boring, and predictable.

But when he turned his attention to the “enemy within,” and started talking about using U.S. cities as military “training grounds,” this was a qualitatively different kind of pitch. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-30T16:48:25.800Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-pitches-generals-admirals-using-us-cities-military-training-grou-rcna234708

The rhetoric was mind-numbing, but it was also inappropriate: The in-person audience included several hundred highly decorated generals and admirals. There was no reason to treat these men and women as if they were little more than sycophantic partisan supporters waiting for fresh red meat.

But making matters far more serious was Trump’s pitch on using the U.S. military on American soil. NPR summarized:

President Trump defended the use of U.S. troops in American cities and told top U.S. commanders that the military would be used against the ‘enemy within.’ ... ‘This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room, because it’s the enemy from within, and we have to handle it before it gets out of control,’ Trump told those gathered for the highly unusual event at Quantico, Va. ‘It won’t get out of control once you’re involved at all.’

“The ones that are run by the radical left Democrats, what they’ve done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they’re very unsafe places. And we’re going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room,” he told military leaders. “That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.”

Trump: "The ones that are run by radical left Democrats -- what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They're very unsafe places & we're gonna straighten them out one by one. This is gonna be a major part for some people in this room. That's a war too. It's war from within"

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-09-30T14:13:18.668Z

As part of the same argument, the president said he’s told Hegseth that the U.S. “should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.”

Trump: "San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles...That's a war too. It's a war from within...I told Pete, we should use some of these cities as training grounds for our military — national guard, but military. We're going into Chicago very soon."

— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-09-30T15:19:27.239Z

After troop deployments in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., as well as announced deployments to Memphis and Portland, Oregon, many raised concerns about the president’s willingness — and apparent eagerness — to use military force against Americans. After Trump’s speech to generals and admirals, those concerns deserve to be a whole lot louder.