Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called nearly every general and admiral in the United States military to Quantico, Virginia, for a closed-door meeting next week. The purpose remains undisclosed, and speculation from the media has gone everywhere and nowhere all at once. One thing feels clear: this does not appear to be about NATO, Russia, or airspace violations over Europe, Trump has indicated that NATO jets should shoot down Russian jets that enter NATO territory, but the regime has only recently turned the tide on Russia. The secrecy is unusual, and the timing invites questions, but those questions are more likely rooted in the ideological goals of the regime, rather than a push towards a conflict with Russia.
That timing of this may matter more than anyone is prepared for, as the Supreme Court is weighing whether to overturn a 1935 precedent, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which has long limited a president’s power to remove independent agency heads. If the Court strikes it down, it would open the door for sweeping executive authority across the federal bureaucracy, essentially granting Donald Trump the authoritarian rule that he has been pushing for.
If Hegseth’s meeting is scheduled with that decision in mind, it could point to preparation for an institutional shift unlike anything seen in decades. We do not know if that coincidental timing is behind this meeting, but it cannot be ruled out.
So what might this meeting mean? We think there are five distinct possibilities, however, with the current US regime, it truly is unpredictable what might come next.
1. A show of force:
This may simply be a symbolic gathering to underline Hegseth’s authority, more spectacle than substance. While it is indeed a stupid idea to announce publicly that the majority of the USA’s Generals and Admirals will all be concentrated in the same place at the same time, this level of stupidity is exactly something we could expect from the USA’s current ruling regime.
To make this move simply as a symbolic “I am your boss” meeting, is actually a strong contender as to what is really going on, despite the stupidity of the move. Pete Hegseth has proved himself to be a sort of egomaniac, and an egomaniac who has borrowed much of the authoritarian chatter that Trump amplifies across the USA.
One thing makes us think that this could be more than this, and that is Hegseth’s previous dismissal of the question of whether he would refuse some of Trump’s more Fascist requests, which could indicate this as something more.
2. A loyalty test:
When Saddam Hossein became Iraq’s leader, he called a meeting that would go down in history. Saddam sat there on the stage of Khuld Hall, a cigar lit in his hand, as he called out 68 names who would meet a deadly end once their names were called. There was no attempt at a coup, as Saddam had claimed, but the fear of death ensured that those who did not have their name called would vow their loyalty to the new Iraqi dictator.
A Saddam-style roll call to see who falls in line with the new leadership does not feel likely, and even less so if the aforementioned Supreme Court decision does not go in Trump’s favour. We cannot entirely rule out a move like this under this ruling party, but the odds of it happening would be lower than anything else mentioned in this piece.
3. War preparation:
I started this article telling you that this is not going to be about Russia, and stand by that. However, tensions are high elsewhere, specifically with Venezuela, but also with South and Central America more broadly.
The Trump regime has claimed to be on a mission to attack drug boats, a mission that looks more like an intimidation technique that reminds us all of the days of the banana republics of the past. The USA have already targeted 4 ships in the Caribbean, with only one proven to be carrying any drugs whatsoever.
If this is the groundwork for conflict, it will perhaps focus closer to home in Venezuela or elsewhere in the hemisphere, rather than a conflict in Europe.
4. National emergency drill:
Military efforts run on secrecy, and part of that secrecy is insuring that the wider public aren’t aware of events until the military wants your to know about them. There may be some internal crisis scenario, real or embellished, that the public and media are not yet aware of.
If real, this would be a move that may include some form of prepping the chain of command for an internal crisis scenario, a strange reason to bring together such a concentration of the USA’s top brass. However, if embellished, it may be a sign of the final possibility listed.
5. Expansion of Trump’s attack on the USA:
Project 2025 is the blueprint for Trump’s presidency, whether the regime is wiling to admit it or not, in that plan, is the ominous desire to enact the Insurrection Act. Such a move would bring the country’s military onto the streets of America in a style not seen before.
There is not enough insurrection to trigger the Insurrection Act, at least not for any level-headed person looking at the events in the USA, and if there was, it is from members of the government and their followers. Reality doesn’t matter in the USA anymore though, with the murder of Charlie Kirk, we saw that the ruling party are desperate for a smoking gun that will allow them to strip away the rights of Americans.
There is no logic to enacting the Insurrection Act, just like there has been no logic to much of the current President’s run in charge. The death of a fascist YouTuber, no matter how violent, does not equate to ‘insurrection’, yet there is a non-zero chance that this meeting will end with a command to send US troops onto US streets in a larger force than we have already seen in DC, California and Chicago.
Of course, it may turn out to be none of the above. The secrecy could mask something entirely mundane, even if the scale of the event doesn’t lend itself to that idea. This summons, and its timing, makes it hard not to read between the lines.
For now, all anyone can do is wait. Whatever the reason, we can only hope the outcome leads not to escalation but to stability, and above all, peace.