WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump in an interview with NBC News Sunday, confirmed that he plans to attend an unusual meeting organized by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that will gather hundreds of senior military officers near Washington on Tuesday.
“It’s 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. It’s just a good message,” Trump told NBC News in a phone call. “We have some great people coming in and it’s just an ‘esprit de corps.’ You know the expression ‘esprit de corps’? That’s all it’s about. We’re talking about what we’re doing, what they’re doing, and how we’re doing.”
Hegseth last week summoned hundreds of senior military leaders, who are stationed all over the world, to Washington for a meeting of the Pentagon’s top brass.
The event will be held at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia, about 30 minutes south of Washington. The base will host potentially thousands of military members, including the top brass, their aides and their security.
Senior admirals and generals were not informed beforehand about the purpose of the meeting.
One official familiar with the plans for the meeting told NBC News last week that the purpose of the meeting is for Hegseth to highlight military accomplishments and to discuss the future of the Defense Department under his leadership. Messages like this are typically communicated to top military brass via memo or secure teleconference.
Trump also praised Hegseth’s plans on Thursday, telling reporters at the White House, “I know, I love it, I mean I think it’s great.”
“Let him be friendly with the generals and admirals from all over the world,” he added. “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 also recently worked with the president to rebrand the Department of Defense as the “Department of War” and ordered staffing cuts among high-ranking military officials.
The meeting comes ahead of a potential government shutdown next week. The Trump administration last week warned that it could carry out mass layoffs of federal workers who would usually be furloughed, or temporarily relieved from work, if the government shuts down.
Congressional Republican and Democratic leaders are currently at an impasse ahead of the Sept. 30 government funding deadline, but Trump plans to meet with top congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle at the White House on Monday.
