Trump's Trials - Trump says U.S. military should be used to fight the 'enemy within'

Episode Date: October 1, 2025

President Trump told top U.S. commanders Tuesday that he plans to use American cities as a training ground for the U.S. military to fight what he called the "enemy within."Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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I'm Lela Faldon. And to May Martinez, President Trump told his top military commanders that the U.S. military would be used against what he calls the enemy within, pointing to Democratic-run cities that he has long said have high crime rates. Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth also spoke at the unusual gathering in Quantico, Virginia, and he reiterated to the generals that the purpose of the department would exclusively be, quote, warfighting. Join us now to talk about all this is NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Tom, before we get to the president, what stood out to you about Hague Seth's remarks? Well, you know, what he said about toughening physical fitness standards for those in combat jobs. So we're talking armor, artillery, and infantry. You know, he said he wants both men and women to achieve, quote, the highest male standard in such things as lifting weights, carrying an

ammo box running. So there were some 600 female Marines in those jobs in the Army, 3,000 or 4,000 women in combat positions. And I'm told you could lose more than 20 percent. of those women in those jobs if they have to meet the highest male standard. Now, Hegsa said that wasn't the goal. Let's listen. If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent, but it could be the result. So be it. Hegsef also said it may mean weak men don't qualify.

All right. So Hegsef has long criticized what he calls the Pentagon's woke culture. What did he have to say about it yesterday? Right. He said the Pentagon was the Department of Woke, and now it's the Department of War. He said he's ending the war on warriors and saying that some were promoted for their race or gender. Of course, he fired the Joint Chiefs Chairman General CQ Brown, the second African American to hold that job, indicating that he got the job not on merit, even though Brown was a key figure in the defeat of the Islamic State. You know, Hegeseth also thinks overall the military has not been tough enough. Too many lawyers, second. guessing troops on rules of engagement in war or bullying or hazing of troops. He also wants drill sergeants to be much more tough on recruits. You know, the president has defended the use of U.S. troops in American city. He specifically mentioned democratic-led cities such as Chicago, describing it as overrun with crime. MPR reporting, though, shows that crime is falling there and also in many other cities. So what exactly did he say about the use of the military domestically?

Well, Trump said the U.S. should use some of these dangerous cities as training. grounds for our military saying mostly Democrat-run cities have crime rates. As you mentioned, the crime rates have been dropping. Now, Trump's comments were denounced by Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, top Democrat in Armed Services and an Army veteran. He called it dangerous. He said, treating our own communities as war zones and our own citizens as enemies. Tom, you spent some two decades embedding with U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. What's your reaction to Trump and Heg-S. talking about a, quote, woke military? Well, it's kind of of a caricature. People I've spent time with in combat zones, they say we've always had

a worry ethos. And it's important to note, A, that women have received medals for valor and more than 150 women pass the grueling Army Ranger course at the same standards as men. Hager has neither a valor medal nor a Ranger tab. All right, that's MPR's Tom Bowman. Tom, as always thanks. You're welcome. Before we wrap up a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org.

I'm Scott Detrow. Thank you for listening to Trump's terms from NPR. Thank you for.