President Donald Trump harkned back to his days on āThe Apprenticeā as he made his way to meet top U.S. military leaders Tuesday.
āIām going to be meeting with generals and with admirals and with leaders, and if I donāt like somebody, Iām going to fire them right on the spot,ā Trump said.
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An unprecedented meeting took place Tuesday when U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went after āfat generalsā and diversity initiatives, per Reuters.
When Trump later took the stage, he jokingly said, āIf you donāt like what Iām saying, you can leave the room, of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future.ā
He then professed his support of the troops.
āI am with you. I support you, and as president, I have your backs 100%,ā Trump said.
Hegseth also told the group if they donāt like his agenda, they should resign.
āFoolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading and we lost our way. We became the āWoke Department,'ā Hegseth said at the Pentagon. āBut not anymore.ā
He promised changes to how discrimination complaints were going to be handled as well as accusations of wrongdoing are investigated.
He added the current system has officials walking on āegg shells.ā
āIf the words Iām speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,ā Hegseth said.
āI know the overwhelming majority of you feel the opposite. These words make your hearts full,ā he continued.
Hegseth took aim at overweight troops, saying.
āItās completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon,ā he added.
āThe era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beardos,ā Hegseth said.
