Leading military chiefs have lashed out at Pete Hegseth’s plan to overhaul the country’s defense strategy, according to a report.
Multiple Pentagon leaders, including Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have raised concerns about the proposals set out by the self-styled “Secretary of War.” The plans could be confirmed at an unprecedented meeting in Virginia on Tuesday to which former Fox News host Hegseth has summoned hundreds of generals and admirals, according to a report in The Washington Post..
The issue stems from Hegseth’s plans to rewrite the National Defense Strategy (NDS) to list homeland defense as the nation’s top priority—rather than continuing to focus on global security threats from China, as it has for years—and to reduce the U.S. military presence in Europe and Africa.
Sources close to the rewriting of the NDS, which lays out U.S. military planning and strategy, told the Post that there are growing concerns within the military that Hegseth’s proposals are short-sighted and “potentially irrelevant” given Donald Trump’s often unpredictable and sometimes contradictory approach to foreign policy.
Caine has openly raised his objections to the plans with other Pentagon leaders, including policy chief Elbridge Colby, according to unnamed sources.
“He gave Hegseth very frank feedback,” one source told the Post. “I don’t know if Hegseth even understands the magnitude of the NDS, which is why I think Caine tried so hard.”
Caine is said to have wanted the NDS to remain focused on deterring and potentially defeating China in a conflict. Hegseth’s draft strategy does still mention China, but primarily in the context of its aggression toward Taiwan, according to the Post. Colby has also long feared that the U.S. is underprepared if China were to attack the country.
“There’s a concern that it’s just not very well thought out,” one former official told the newspaper about Hegseth’s China strategy.
Hegseth is also signalling that the Pentagon will move U.S. forces out of Europe, a move that could frustrate allies given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s incursions into NATO airspace.
“Secretary Hegseth has tasked the development of a National Defense Strategy that is laser focused on advancing President Trump’s commonsense America First, Peace Through Strength agenda,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told the Post. “This process is still ongoing.”
The NDS plans are expected to be discussed during an unusual meeting on Tuesday called by Hegseth, which he demanded top officers from American bases around the world attend in person.
Hegseth will use the meeting—which has been mocked as something that “could have been an email,”—to discuss the “warrior ethos” mentality he wants instilled at the Pentagon.
Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii wrote a letter to Hegseth on Saturday asking why a “secure virtual alternative” was not considered instead of requiring hundreds of officers to leave their posts and attend in person.
The pair, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also raised concerns about the potential security risks of having an “unprecedented concentration of senior military leadership in one location” just to hear Hegseth speak about standards and ethos.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon and the White House for comment.
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