Hegseth abruptly summons top military commanders to a meeting in Virginia next week

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned the military’s top officers — hundreds of generals and admirals — to a base in northern Virginia for a sudden meeting next week, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The directive did not offer a reason for the gathering next Tuesday of senior commanders of the one-star rank or higher and their top advisers at the Marine Corps base in Quantico. The people, who described the move as unusual, were not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive plans and spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.

The Pentagon’s top spokesman, Sean Parnell, confirmed that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week.”

Across the military, there are 800 generals and admirals of all ranks. Many command thousands of service members and are stationed across the world in more than a dozen countries and time zones.

President Donald Trump didn’t seem to know about the meeting when he was asked about it by reporters during an Oval Office appearance later Thursday.

“I’ll be there if they want me, but why is that such a big deal?” Trump said.

Vice President JD Vance argued that the media had turned it into a “big story” and that it was “not particularly unusual that generals who report to” Hegseth are coming to speak with him.

The meeting, first reported by The Washington Post, comes on the heels of several unusual and unexplained actions that Hegseth has taken involving military leaders.

In May, Hegseth ordered that the military cut 20% of its four-star general officers, directed an additional 10% cut from all general and flag officers across the force, and told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions.

In February, Hegseth fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top officer, and Gen. James Slife, the Air Force’s second highest officer, without explanation. He also relieved the military’s top lawyers.

Since then, Hegseth has fired other military leaders without saying why. Most recently it was a general who led a military intelligence agency whose initial assessment of U.S. damage to Iranian nuclear sites in American strikes angered Trump.

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Burrows reported from London. Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed.