U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, U.S., September 30, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called in hundreds of top military brass last week to deliver a lecture on the "ethos of war" and scold them for being too fat. Now, Pentagon officials confirmed "everyone" was ordered to watch the speech "in full."
Laura Rozen, formerly of Politico, who runs her own Substack, "Diplomatic," confirmed Thursday, “This morning, every DOD employee was instructed to certify, in writing, [that] they have watched Hegseth’s speech" from last week’s Quantico meeting.
Politico national security reporter Paul McLeary followed up on Rozen's reporting, saying that he was able to confirm "everyone was ordered to certify that they watched Hegseth's recent Quantico speech in full."
Neither reporter mentioned that the DOD team was instructed to watch President Donald Trump's speech. The commander-in-chief spoke after Hegseth and addressed his demand to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America." He also attacked former President Joe Biden by calling him "Joe the autopen.” He also saluted former President Barack Obama for his ability to bound up and down stairs. At one point, Trump also brought up watching the 1950s TV series "Victory at Sea."
Report typos and corrections to corrections@rawstory.com.
For customer support contact support@rawstory.com.
