US President\u2019s Quantico speech signals the most radical military shift in a century<\/p>\n
Kick out \u201cmen in dresses.\u201d Fire \u201cfat generals.\u201d Shave off the beards. Scrap the stealth ships \u2013 \u201cugly\u201d as sin, Trump called them \u2013 and bring back the battleships, heavy and proud.
\nThat, in essence, was the message at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30, where President Donald Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, gathered nearly 900 generals and admirals for what looked, at first, like theater \u2013 and may turn out to be the beginning of a profound military revolution.
\nThe generals were summoned suddenly, with no fixed agenda. Anxiety spread through the ranks. What followed was equal parts spectacle and purge. Trump mocked the \u201cfeminization\u201d of the armed forces, scolded the brass for their aesthetics, and even complained \u2013 half in jest, half in grievance \u2013 that the Nobel Committee still hadn\u2019t recognized him. Hegseth, an outsider to the military establishment, lectured the officers on fitness and discipline, sounding more like a high school coach than a Pentagon chief.
\nBut behind the absurdity was something deliberate. Trump made it clear he would fire anyone who crossed him. \u201cIf you don\u2019t like it, you can leave,\u201d he told the assembled officers, \u201cbut you\u2019ll lose your rank and your future.\u201d
\nThen came the shock line: American cities like Chicago, he said, could become \u201ctraining grounds\u201d for the army. The fight against crime would be treated like war itself.<\/p>\n
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Trump\u2019s military: loyalty over legacy
\nThis was not just a populist performance. It was a declaration of intent. Trump wants to transform the US military into a force personally loyal to him \u2013 something he failed to do in his first term. Then, his plans were thwarted by a disobedient general staff that challenged him on everything from Afghanistan to NATO. Some, like General Mark Milley, even made secret calls to China to reassure Beijing that they would not execute Trump\u2019s orders.
\nIn 2025, the president is determined not to repeat that humiliation. His choice of Hegseth \u2013 untested, inexperienced, but fiercely loyal \u2013 is no accident. Since January, 15 senior officers have been dismissed for public disagreement with the new administration. The message is clear: dissent equals dismissal.
\nTrump\u2019s reasoning is political as much as military. His America is turning inward, and he wants an army that reflects that shift. The forthcoming defense strategy, now being drafted, reportedly calls for a large-scale redeployment of US forces \u2013 shuttering far-flung commands, pulling troops out of Europe and the Middle East, and concentrating on homeland defense.
\nThe more startling implication is domestic. Trump appears ready to use the armed forces to tackle internal crises \u2013 from crime to political unrest. Under the guise of \u201claw and order,\u201d the regular army could supplement or even supplant the National Guard in enforcing federal authority.\u00a0
\nIt is a dangerous precedent, but a politically potent one. In Trump\u2019s logic, the United States itself has become a battlefield \u2013 its cities overrun, its institutions infiltrated by \u201cleftist rot.\u201d To restore strength, the army must once again embody the old virtues: discipline, masculinity, hierarchy, patriotism.
\nThis is not merely about aesthetics or nostalgia. It is about constructing a new civic religion, one that merges militarism with nationalism. Trump\u2019s \u201cMinistry of War,\u201d as he now openly calls it, will not just defend America. It will define it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A war of doctrines
\nIf the reforms go ahead, they will mark the most radical reimagining of the US military since World War II. The generals who resist have already been told to \u201ctake off their epaulettes.\u201d Those who remain must embrace an ideological makeover as much as a structural one.
\nFor Russia and the wider world, this moment matters. Moscow\u2019s current military planning still assumes that the United States is the main external threat. But if Washington truly reorients inward \u2013 if it abandons its global policing role and retreats from Europe \u2013 the entire strategic map will shift.
\nFor now, though, the meaning of Trump\u2019s Quantico address remains double-edged. On one hand, it looks like showbiz. On the other, it could be the opening act of something far more serious: an attempt to turn America\u2019s military into a tool of domestic politics and ideological conformity.
\nIn that sense, Trump\u2019s speech was not as incoherent as it seemed. Beneath the bombast, he outlined a vision of an America that fights less abroad but prepares constantly for war \u2013 at home, against crime, disorder, and dissent.
\nIt is a dangerous idea, but one that resonates deeply with Trump\u2019s supporters: the belief that strength, not diplomacy, ensures peace; that loyalty, not competence, holds institutions together.
\nFor the rest of the world, especially for Russia, it may also signal a strange kind of opportunity. If the United States chooses to turn its sword inward, others will have more room to act abroad.
\nBut make no mistake: when the most powerful army on Earth starts purging its generals and turning its gaze homeward, history rarely unfolds quietly.<\/p>\n
This article was first published by the online newspaper\u00a0Gazeta.ru\u00a0and was translated and edited by the RT team\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President\u2019s Quantico speech signals the most radical military shift in a century Kick out \u201cmen in dresses.\u201d Fire \u201cfat generals.\u201d Shave off the beards. Scrap the stealth ships \u2013…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t