QUANTICO, Va. — President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are expected to address hundreds of generals and admirals Tuesday in Quantico, Virginia, in an unusual and urgent in-person meeting called by Hegseth last week, CBS reports.
Watch live: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addresses senior military officials
Hegseth is expected to speak at 8:15 a.m., ahead of Trump, who is expected to speak at 9 a.m.
The nation's top military leaders from all over the world were summoned last week by Hegseth to travel to Virginia for a meeting with the defense secretary but were initially given no information about why. Two defense officials tell CBS News that Hegseth is expected to talk about the "warrior ethos."
Senior military commanders meet regularly throughout the year in person, but a meeting of this magnitude with so little warning or indication about its purpose is rare, if not unprecedented.
Hegseth said that he is issuing new policies to overhaul the Defense Department's internal watchdog, its inspector general, as well as the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Military Equal Opportunity program.
He said he calls it the "no more walking on eggshells" policy.
"We are liberating commanders and NCOs," Hegseth said. "We are liberating you."
Hegseth said senior military leaders need to end the "poisonous culture of risk aversion."
"You must trust that the warrior alongside you in battle is capable, truly, physically capable of doing what is necessary under fire," he said.
