Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's planned meeting with the top brass of America's military Tuesday is facing strong pushback from within the ranks, according to one columnist.
David Rothkopf, columnist for The Daily Beast, spoke with the outlet's executive editor, Hugh Dougherty, on a new episode of itspodcast about the planned meeting between Hegseth and military leaders. NBC News reported on Sunday that President Donald Trump also plans to appear at the meeting to tell the leaders "how well we're doing militarily."
Rothkopf said his sources in the military have described the meeting as a "waste of time" and offensive at a "fundamental level."
"They're already doing things and day after day that are reducing readiness even as they say they want to have this big, tough, military force," Rothkopf said. "Add to that, why are we bringing them together?"
"We're bringing them together to hear the views of America's most famous draft dodger, Donald Trump and this frat boy who's spent a few years in the military, but whose life after that in veterans' organizations and everything else was marred by scandal and mismanagement," he continued.
"The guy who is the least qualified secretary of defense in our history, and they're going to lecture the career leaders of our military at this particular moment," he added. "It is not going down well, I can tell you...This is seen as a waste of time, and it offends them at a pretty fundamental level."