--- title: War Secretary Pete Hegseth Declares an End to 'Politically Correct' Leadership in the U.S. Military | TIME description: U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth outlined several new policies and standards for the military that are in line with President Trump’s agenda. Hegseth's comments were delivered in a speech to almost 800 generals, admirals and senior enlisted advisors who had traveled to a military base in Quantico, Virginia, from around the world at short notice. Hegseth' called for implementing a “highest male standard” for combatants, dispelling “woke garbage,” and telling generals that they should resign if they disagree with his agenda. This is the end, he said, of politically correct leadership. canonical: https://time.com/video/Fd8CSNZ6/ og:title: War Secretary Pete Hegseth Declares an End to 'Politically Correct' Leadership in the U.S. Military og:description: U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth outlined several new policies and standards for the military that are in line with President Trump’s agenda. Hegseth's comments were delivered in a speech to almost 800 generals, admirals and senior enlisted advisors who had traveled to a military base in Quantico, Virginia, from around the world at short notice. Hegseth' called for implementing a “highest male standard” for combatants, dispelling “woke garbage,” and telling generals that they should resign if they disagree with his agenda. This is the end, he said, of politically correct leadership. og:url: https://time.com/video/Fd8CSNZ6/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Fd8CSNZ6/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: War Secretary Pete Hegseth Declares an End to 'Politically Correct' Leadership in the U.S. Military twitter:description: U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth outlined several new policies and standards for the military that are in line with President Trump’s agenda. Hegseth's comments were delivered in a speech to almost 800 generals, admirals and senior enlisted advisors who had traveled to a military base in Quantico, Virginia, from around the world at short notice. Hegseth' called for implementing a “highest male standard” for combatants, dispelling “woke garbage,” and telling generals that they should resign if they disagree with his agenda. This is the end, he said, of politically correct leadership. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Fd8CSNZ6/poster.jpg?width=720 --- * Politics # War Secretary Pete Hegseth Declares an End to 'Politically Correct' Leadership in the U.S. Military > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: War Secretary Pete Hegseth Declares an End to 'Politically Correct' Leadership in the U.S. Military [Watch (HLS stream): War Secretary Pete Hegseth Declares an End to 'Politically Correct' Leadership in the U.S. Military](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Fd8CSNZ6.m3u8) (5:16)  _Published 2025-09-30. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth outlined several new policies and standards for the military that are in line with President Trump’s agenda. Hegseth's comments were delivered in a speech to almost 800 generals, admirals and senior enlisted advisors who had traveled to a military base in Quantico, Virginia, from around the world at short notice. Hegseth' called for implementing a “highest male standard” for combatants, dispelling “woke garbage,” and telling generals that they should resign if they disagree with his agenda. This is the end, he said, of politically correct leadership._ --- Oct 10, 2025 11:20 AM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Pete Hegseth Says "Cease-Fire is Not Over" Despite Iranian Attacks in Strait of Hormuz ](/video/mnmSRecB/) ### Pete Hegseth Says "Cease-Fire is Not Over" Despite Iranian Attacks in Strait of Hormuz [Should the U.S. Defense Secretary Know What ASEAN Is? Pete Hegseth Doesn’t Appear To](/video/ptQIjGjA/) ### Should the U.S. Defense Secretary Know What ASEAN Is? Pete Hegseth Doesn’t Appear To [Pete Hegseth, Trump's Pick For Defense Secretary, Visits Capitol Hill to Shore Up Support](/video/Z2ndn6m8/) ### Pete Hegseth, Trump's Pick For Defense Secretary, Visits Capitol Hill to Shore Up Support --- ## Transcript This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department to rip out the politics. No more identity. Months di offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship. No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris. As I've said before and will say again, we are done with that ****. I don't want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in combat, unit with females who can't meet the same combat arms, physical standards as men or troops who are not fully proficient on their assigned weapons platform or task, or under a leader who was the first but not the best. Standards must be uniform, gender neutral, and high. If not, they're not standards. They're just suggestions. Suggestions that get our sons and daughters killed. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations or really any formation and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country. In the world. It's a bad look. It is bad, and it's not who we are. So whether you're an airborne Ranger or an airborne Ranger, a brand new private or a four star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass your PT test. And as the chairman said, yes, there is no PT test. But today, at my direction, every member of the joint force at every rank is required to take a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year, every year of service. Also today, at my direction, every warrior across our joint force is required to do PT every duty day. This also means grooming standards. No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression. We're going to cut our hair, shave, shave our beards and adhere to standards because it's like the broken windows theory of policing. It's like when you let the small stuff go, the big stuff eventually goes. Allow me a few words to talk about toxic leaders. Upholding and demanding high standards is not toxic. Enforcing high standards. Not toxic leadership. Leading warfighters toward the goals of high, gender neutral and uncompromising standards in order to forge a cohesive, formidable, and lethal department of war is not toxic. That's why today, at my direction, we're undertaking a full review of the department's definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing. Of course, you can't do like, nasty bullying and hazing. We're talking about words like bullying and hazing and toxic. They've been weaponized and bastardized inside our formations, undercutting commanders and NCOs. No more setting. Achieving and maintaining high standards is what you all do. And if that makes me toxic, then so be it. The E6 test or O3 test clarifies a lot, and it clarifies quickly, because war does not care if you're a man or a woman, neither does the enemy, nor does the weight of your rucksack the size of an artillery round, or the body weight of a casualty on the battlefield who must be carried? This, and I want to be very clear about this. This is not about preventing women from serving. We are. We very much value the impact of female troops. Our female officers and NCOs are the absolute best in the world. But when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral. If women can make it excellent. If not, it is what it is. As foolish and reckless as the woke department was, those officers were following elected political leadership. An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that, quote, our diversity is our strength. Of course we know our unity is our strength. They had to put out dizzying Dei and LGBTQ plus statements. But if the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign. We would thank you for your service, but I suspect I know the overwhelming majority of you feel the opposite. These words make your hearts full. You love the War Department because you love what you do. The profession of arms. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"War Secretary Pete Hegseth Declares an End to 'Politically Correct' Leadership in the U.S. Military","description":"U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth outlined several new policies and standards for the military that are in line with President Trump’s agenda. 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