Trump Tells Military Brass US Faces ‘Invasion From Within’

President Donald Trump told top military brass that the US is fighting an “invasion from within,” as he used a highly unusual gathering of officers stationed around the world to deliver a largely political speech that highlighted border security and rooting out “woke” culture. “After spending trillions of dollars defending the borders of foreign countries, with your help, we’re defending the borders of our country,” Trump said on Tuesday at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.  “It’s the enemy from within, and we have to handle it before it gets out of control,” he added. Aside from teasing “major reforms” to defense acquisition processes and foreign military sales, Trump’s remarks largely drew on familiar themes. He repeated claims of resolving seven wars, criticized the “corrupt” media, and took jabs at Democratic opponents — sounding more like a rally than a traditional address by the commander-in-chief to his top military leaders. Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Defense Analyst Wayne Sanders joins Bloomberg Businessweek Daily to discuss. He speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec.

Trump joked he was ready to fire officials who he doesn’t like, echoing a slightly sterner warning from his Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, who was originally slated to be the sole keynote speaker at the event.

“If you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room,” Trump said to laughter from the crowd of hundreds — nearly all uniformed military brass. “Of course, there goes your rank. There goes your future. But you just feel nice and loose, OK? Because we’re all on the same team.”

Trump’s speech once again highlighted how he has sought to involve the military in his political agenda, waging cultural fights that top officers have long worked to steer clear of over fears that it could erode public support for an institution that’s meant to be apolitical.

“It’s shocking to see the president and secretary engaged in this kind of dangerous and politicized incitement,” said Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

“But it was reassuring to see the quiet professionalism” of the military leaders, just as the Joint Chiefs of Staff during State of the Union speeches, and “they deserve enormous credit for maintaining their integrity,” said Schake, who has previously held high-level roles at the Pentagon, State Department and National Security Council under Republican administrations.

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser in defense and security at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the president’s meandering from relevant military themes to domestic and political ones was typical of his speeches, regardless of the audience. While Hegseth’s detailing his vision was also no cause for concern, what remained unusual about the gathering was that “there was no compelling reason to do this in person,” he said.

Since taking office, Trump and Hegseth have deployed troops to the US-Mexico border and National Guardsmen to several American cities. Hegseth’s rejected questions around the legality of attacking alleged narco-traffickers from Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea. They’ve also fired the first woman to lead a military service branch, axed the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and restored the names of bases previously honoring Confederate generals.

“We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” Trump said.

The president has faced some criticism for his heavy emphasis on deploying the military for domestic means, while also garnering praise especially from his base for delivering on border security promises.

“I’m not saying the whole emphasis on the homeland is bad by any means but it’s probably not going to be the main thing we want our military to do,” given obligations to key allies that help prevent a threat to the homeland, said Michael O’Hanlon, Philip H. Knight Chair in defense and strategy at the Brookings Institution. “It’s more Trump’s overall political anger writ large that troubles me.”

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