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Sen. Slotkin, President Trump, Sec. Def. Pete Hegseth
President Donald Trump’s and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s address to several hundred military commanders Tuesday at Quantico,Virginia was mocked on late-night TV and drew criticism from military experts and Democrats, including Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin.
“The military is the most trusted institution in the country. It’s the most lethal fighting force the world has ever known, and a cornerstone of American power,” Slotkin posted on X.
“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are attempting to manipulate it for their own gain, tarnishing the military’s reputation and making American citizens suspicious and fearful of their own protectors.
“All this makes us less safe in the process. If you care about the military—not to mention democracy—you should mark yesterday in your calendars as a sad and historic moment in our history.”
Trump told the brass, “I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.”
Hegseth told the brass:
“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” he said. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon.”
He said he wanted to convey to the world how tough the military is and if someone cared to test them, "FAFO," which translates to "Fuck Around, Find Out."
Slotkin went on to say:
Yesterday’s military spectacle from Secretary Hegseth and President Trump should be seen for what it is: a critical moment in our history, and our story as Americans.
First, and most importantly: they accelerated their case that America is in the middle of a violent insurrection that the military must quell. The President believes he is the hero of his own story, and is willing to hurt the standing of the U.S. military to look tough in public.
On top of LA and DC, the commander in chief laid out his goal of using our cities as military "training grounds" and called on American generals to fight "the war from within."
Make no mistake, this is NOT about fighting crime. If he truly cared about the safety of these cities, he could use his broad authority to provide police forces in those cities, hire hundreds of new officers, or, in the case of DC, re-hire the National Park Service workers who used to pick up trash in federal parks.
Instead, the President is using a well-worn playbook that seeks to consolidate the use of force and improperly turn the military into the enforcers of his political agenda. It should make all of us deeply uncomfortable, because while it’s someone else’s city today, it could be your city tomorrow.
