There was some alarm when it was reported that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was summoning generals from their posts around the world for a meeting. I wrote at the time that indications were that the meeting was a Trump PR stunt designed to take attention away from the government shutdown that the president is causing.
Please support The Daily by becoming a subscriber.
It turns out that the meeting is a very expensive, taxpayer-funded PR stunt.
“It’s meant to be a show of force of what the new military now looks like under the president,” a White House official told CNN.
The meeting is expected to resemble “a pep rally” where Hegseth will underscore the importance of the “warrior ethos” and outline a new vision for the US military, said three of the sources. He is expected to discuss new readiness, fitness and grooming standards the officers are expected to adhere to and enforce.
“It’s about getting the horses into the stable and whipping them into shape,” said a defense o…
