Friday, October 03, 2025

Pentagon Reporter Can't Find One Official who Liked Speech

Longtime Pentagon reporter Helene Cooper said that she can't find any military officials who attended the meeting in Virginia with President Donald Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth and liked what they heard. "I have yet to find a single military official who was in the audience today who thought that this was a good presentation," she told MSNBC on Tuesday afternoon.

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OPINION on @zeeshanaleem.bsky.social: "Hegseth wants to politicize the military and turn it into a swashbuckling corps of bloodthirsty warriors." READ MORE: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb ...

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-- MSNBC (@msnbc.com) Oct 1, 2025 at 1:10 PM

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More: "All I've had from them so far, from the people I've talked to, is a combination of disbelief that some of them were made to fly from, some of them, Asia, from all over the world ... all the way to Quanico to listen to the same familiar type of culture war complaints that we've been having since Trump was reelected," she added, calling Trump's remarks a "campaign-style stump speech."

"Nothing that was said today could not have been put in an email or in a directive. So there's that, to begin with. There's also the fact that so much of this was partisan, and this is a military that is supposed to present itself as nonpartisan. So you didn't hear the kind of cheering that we usually get, because President Trump is used to playing for the type of crowds that favor him," Cooper explained. "And so he's not very used to performing in front of an audience that's just giving, looking back stone-faced. But that's what you were getting from these generals."

The other thing she noted is that she's gotten "so many emails from women in the military" who are seeing this as a message "that they are not welcome."

#1 | Posted by qcp at 2025-10-01 11:26 AM

Pickled Pete is a ------- clown.

#2 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2025-10-01 11:33 AM

Because it was a waste of time and money just like everything else dotard does.

#3 | Posted by Nixon at 2025-10-01 11:49 AM

Flying in all the top commanders to be used as props in a political rally to declare war on US citizens and then bitch about not getting a Nobel prize was unpopular with them?

Shocking.

#4 | Posted by Nixon at 2025-10-01 11:51 AM

The consensus among the military leaders seems to be that this was, "insulting".

And it's not nice to insult Mother Military.

#5 | Posted by Corky at 2025-10-01 12:04 PM

The only thing they knew about their audience is that they are subservient to civilian authority.

That's the pov the speakers exuded.

"You can leave but there goes your career".

The reception was inevitable.

#6 | Posted by fresno500 at 2025-10-01 12:57 PM

I got my first burst of spontaneous laughter early when Hegseth, while addressing an audience of battle-worn and battled-scared senior military officers, said "what I learned from my 800 days in this job" blah, blah, blah.

After that everything else he said became irrelevant.

I also thought that having so much military brass in one location would be an opportune time for them to start planning a military coup of the Trump administration.

I'm still not sure I'm wrong.

#7 | Posted by Twinpac at 2025-10-04 01:06 AM

what I learned from my 800 days in this job

800 days in what job?

#8 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-10-04 01:13 AM

REDIAL

800 days in what job?

He didn't elaborate. Something about people needing people. One can only assume he was making it up on the fly. I just thought it was the height of arrogance to say anything of that nature to a room full of seasoned military professionals.

#9 | Posted by Twinpac at 2025-10-04 01:35 AM

I just thought it was the height of arrogance to say anything of that nature to a room full of seasoned military professionals.

You would not be wrong. I thought his closing, "go out there and draw fire" remark was kinda out there.

#10 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-10-04 01:44 AM

REDIAL

I didn't watch it that long. I knew he was a B.S. artist right from the beginning.

His act didn't seem to impress anyone. Small wonder.

#11 | Posted by Twinpac at 2025-10-04 03:28 AM

Don't nobody tell Boaz-0 or the rest of the military clique'

#12 | Posted by RightisTrite at 2025-10-05 08:19 AM

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