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QUANTICO, Va. 鈥� President Donald Trump revealed that he wants to use American cities as training grounds for the armed forces and joined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday in declaring an end to 鈥渨oke鈥� culture before an unusual gathering of hundreds of top U.S. military officials who were abruptly summoned to Virginia from around the world.

Hegseth announced new directives for troops that include 鈥済ender-neutral鈥� or for physical fitness, while Trump bragged about U.S. nuclear capabilities and warned that 鈥淎merica is under invasion from within.鈥�

鈥淎fter spending trillions of dollars defending the borders of foreign countries, with your help we鈥檙e defending the borders of our country,鈥� Trump said.

Hegseth had called military leaders to the Marine Corps base in Quantico, near Washington, without publicly revealing the reason until this morning. His address largely focused on his own long-used talking points that painted a picture of a military that has been , and he said military leaders should 鈥渄o the honorable thing and resign鈥� if they don鈥檛 like his new approach.

Meetings between top military brass and civilian leaders are nothing new, but the gathering had fueled intense speculation about the summit鈥檚 purpose given the haste with which it was called and the mystery surrounding it.

Admirals and generals from conflict zones in the Middle East and elsewhere were summoned for a lecture on race and gender in the military, underscoring the extent to which the country鈥檚 culture wars have emerged as a front-and-center agenda item for Hegseth鈥檚 Pentagon, even at a time of broad national security concerns across the globe.

鈥榃e will not be politically correct鈥�

Trump is used to boisterous crowds of supporters who laugh at his jokes and applaud his boasts during his speeches. But he wasn鈥檛 getting that kind of soundtrack from the generals and admirals in attendance.

In keeping with the nonpartisan tradition of the armed services, the military leaders sat mostly stone-faced through Trump鈥檚 politicized remarks, a contrast from when rank-and-file soldiers cheered during Trump鈥檚 this summer.

During his nearly hour-long speech, Hegseth said the U.S. military has promoted too many leaders for the wrong reasons based on race, gender quotas and 鈥渉istoric firsts.鈥�

鈥淭he era of politically correct, overly sensitive don鈥檛-hurt-anyone鈥檚-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,鈥� Hegseth said.

That was echoed by Trump, who said 鈥渢he purposes of America military is not to protect anyone鈥檚 feelings. It鈥檚 to protect our republic.鈥�

鈥淲e will not be politically correct when it comes to defending American freedom,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淎nd we will be a fighting and winning machine.鈥�

Loosening disciplinary rules

Hegseth said he is loosening disciplinary rules and weakening hazing protections, putting a heavy focus on removing many of the guardrails the military had put in place after numerous scandals and investigations

He said he was ordering a review of 鈥渢he department鈥檚 definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing.鈥�

The defense secretary called for 鈥渃hanges to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable, earnest, or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity.鈥�

鈥淧eople make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career,鈥� Hegseth said. 鈥淥therwise, we only try not to make mistakes.鈥�

Bullying and toxic leadership has been the suspected and confirmed cause behind numerous military suicides over the past several years, including the very dramatic suicide of Brandon Caserta, a young sailor who was bullied into killing himself in 2018.

A Navy investigation found that Caserta鈥檚 supervisor鈥檚 鈥渘oted belligerence, vulgarity and brash leadership was likely a significant contributing factor in (the sailor)鈥檚 decision to end his own life.鈥�

Gender-neutral physical standards

Hegseth used the platform to slam environmental policies and transgender troops while talking up his and Trump鈥檚 focus on 鈥渢he warrior ethos鈥� and 鈥減eace through strength.鈥�

Hegseth said the department has been told from previous administrations that 鈥渙ur diversity is our strength,鈥� which he called an 鈥渋nsane fallacy.鈥�

鈥淭hey had to put out dizzying DEI and LGBTQE+ statements. They were told females and males are the same thing, or that males who think they鈥檙e females is totally normal,鈥� he said, adding the use of electric tanks and the COVID vaccine requirements to the list as mistaken policies.

Hegseth said this is not about preventing women from serving.

鈥淏ut when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f women can make it excellent, if not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result.鈥�

Hegseth鈥檚 speech came as the country faces a potential this week and as Hegseth, who has hammered home a focus on lethality, has taken several unusual and unexplained actions, including to the number of general officers and .

Hegseth has championed the military鈥檚 role in , deploying to American cities as part of , and carrying out that the administration says targeted drug traffickers.