US Defense Secretary Hegseth confirms plan to cut top military ranks by 20%

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans on Wednesday to cut the number of generals and admirals by 20% during an address to lower-ranking troops at a Marine Corps base. In his speech, he sharply criticized diversity-focused policies, declaring that the military would no longer tolerate what he called "weirdos" and "wimps."

Hegseth rejected media reports of declining morale within the armed forces as "false claims," asserting that troop retention rates were at "record" levels. As an example, he cited the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, saying about 80% of onboard personnel had stayed in service despite concerns over mental health and supply issues during its nine-month deployment.

It emerged last week that eight navy personnel assigned to the Lincoln had attempted suicide since the deployment began. The carrier, which spent 286 days at sea as part of the US war on Iran, docked on September 1 in a Thai resort city. The deployment had originally been scheduled to end in May but was extended.

During his address in Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth unveiled several new initiatives, including a Pentagon project involving Elon Musk, top Trump donor Palmer Luckey, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, aimed at studying the "future of warfare."

Hegseth also criticized Ivy League universities and liberal arts colleges, calling them "woke factories" — despite being a graduate of Harvard and Princeton himself. He announced the Pentagon would partner with other institutions, including conservative-leaning Liberty University and Hillsdale College, as well as Louisiana State, Mississippi, and Tuskegee universities.