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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
George Chidi

Trump defends troops in US cities after Hegseth decries military DEI efforts

two men in suits on stage
Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Tuesday. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

At an address of assembled generals and admirals, Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, outlined changes to military policy and philosophy in a set of 10 directives meant to change organizational culture around fitness, race and gender, describing the previous state of military affairs as the “woke department”.

Donald Trump followed Hegseth’s call to embrace the virtues of lethality as a doctrine with a suggestion buried in an hour-long campaign-style speech that the gathering of officers and senior enlisted advisers should consider targeting US cities and civilian populations as a training exercise.

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