Trump and Hegseth attack ‘woke’ culture

UNITED States President Donald Trump yesterday revealed that he wants to use American cities as training grounds for the armed forces, and he joined US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in declaring an end to “woke” culture before an unusual gathering of hundreds of top US military officials who were abruptly summoned to Virginia from around the world.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTERS

Mr Hegseth announced new directives for troops that include “gender-neutral” or “male-level” standards for physical fitness, while Mr Trump bragged about US nuclear capabilities and warned that “America is under invasion from within’.

“After spending trillions of dollars defending the borders of foreign countries, with your help we're defending the borders of our country,’ Mr Trump said.

Mr Hegseth had called military leaders to the Marine Corps base in Quantico, near Washington, without publicly revealing the reason until yesterday morning. His address largely focused on his familiar talking points that painted a picture of a military that has been hamstrung by “woke” policies, and he said military leaders should “do the honourable thing and resign” if they do not like his new approach.