Pete Hegseth Calls for Urgent Meeting With Top US Military Officers

Pete Hegseth/Department of Defense

Pete Hegseth, secretary of the Department of Defense and a 2025 Wash100 awardee, has ordered U.S. generals and admirals from across the globe to convene for an urgent meeting on Tuesday morning at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

“The Secretary of War will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” said Sean Parnell, a spokesman for the Pentagon.

Several senior military officials said they were not notified of the meeting’s purpose or their expected role in the session.

According to WSJ, speculation about the meeting’s purpose ranges from the launch of a new National Defense Strategy, which is expected to focus on Western Hemisphere defense, to a possible DOD overhaul.

A senior U.S. official said the meeting would address management issues.

A spokesman for DOD declined to provide details or say whether portions of the meeting would be public or held behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump described the session as a regular meeting between top military officers and civilian leaders.

“I think it’s great when generals and top people want to come to the United States to be with our now-secretary of War,” the president said.

Renaming DOD to Department of War Through New EO

News of the upcoming meeting comes weeks after Trump signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War as a secondary title. 

The move sought to sharpen the department’s focus on national interests and indicate to adversaries the country’s readiness to wage war to protect its interests.