Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth faced a room of hundreds of generals and admirals whom he had summoned from across the globe, and made his case for shaking up a force that he said had gone soft and “woke.” Greg Jaffe, the Pentagon reporter for The New York Times, discusses Hegseth’s speech.

By Greg Jaffe, Melanie Bencosme and Laura Salaberry

October 1, 2025