Hegseth Tells Troops at Quantico the Military Is “No Longer the Woke Department”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered a speech Wednesday to military leaders and troops at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Prince William County, marking one year since his first State of Force address, in which he criticized what he called “woke” policies within the armed forces.

In the speech, Hegseth said the department is “no longer the woke department or the weak department.” He listed a series of changes he said the military has moved away from, saying there would be “no more silly PowerPoint trainings or drag queen shows,” “no more diversity quotas,” “no more gender pronouns” and “no more identity months,” adding that only the “warrior ethos” would remain.

Hegseth also used blunt and widely circulated language describing the kind of recruits and personnel he does not want in the ranks, saying the military would have “no fatties,” no “trannies,” no “beardos,” no “weirdos,” no “wimps” and no “radicals,” only “warriors.”

Cuts to military leadership and a new tech initiative

Hegseth announced at the meeting that he is cutting the number of generals and admirals by 20 percent. He also confirmed the creation of Project Meridian, a 120-day Pentagon effort he said would be led by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and defense technology executive Palmer Luckey.

During his remarks, Hegseth defended his record at the department, saying recruitment and retention — including among women and minorities — have increased under his leadership. He described the current force as “color-blind” and merit-based.

Hegseth criticizes media coverage

Hegseth also spent part of the speech criticizing news coverage of troop morale and munitions stockpiles connected to the conflict with Iran.

“A free press is, of course, important, but partisan activism that intentionally smears the troops and the historic mission that they’re undertaking is fundamentally anti-American. It’s sick. It’s a national betrayal. It’s treason, actually,” Hegseth said.

Reaction divided along political lines

Reaction to the speech broke largely along partisan lines. The Daily Beast described the remarks as an “unhinged rant,” and a social media post quoting Hegseth’s “no fatties no trannies” line drew hundreds of thousands of views, with critics calling the comments offensive.

Conservative commentators, including Gen Z influencer Bo Loudon, praised the speech. Loudon wrote that Hegseth “just MADE AMERICA PROUD” and called the remarks “100% what I voted for.”