U.S. President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth declared an end to "woke" culture in the military and targeted other policies of past administrations Tuesday before hundreds of top U.S. military officials who were abruptly summoned to Virginia from around the world.
Hegseth announced new directives for troops that include "gender-neutral" or "male-level" standards for physical fitness, while Trump talked about U.S. nuclear capabilities and criticized the military leaders' previous commander in chief, former president Joe Biden.
"We must be so strong that no nation will dare challenge us, so powerful that no enemy will dare threaten us," Trump said. "And so capable that no adversary can even think about beating us."
Trump also used his speech as an opportunity to taunt Canada over becoming the "51st state" as he brought up the Golden Dome missile defence program he wants to build to protect the United States.
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