President Donald Trump told the nation’s most senior military officers that the United States is “under invasion from within,” using a rare, hours-long address at Marine Corps Base Quantico to press the armed forces into a larger domestic role and to describe major Democratic-run cities as internal battlegrounds that should be “training grounds” for troops. Speaking to generals and admirals flown in from commands across the globe, Trump said the military’s “first and most important priority” was defending the homeland from a domestic enemy and repeatedly returned to the same formulation: “It’s a war from within … We’re under invasion from within.” The remarks—delivered in a largely silent auditorium that underscored the military’s norm of political neutrality—set out an agenda that would test legal limits on the use of federal forces inside the United States and deepen long-running concerns about politicization of the chain of command.
Trump’s speech on 30 September at Quantico, about 30 miles south of Washington, came during an unprecedented, Pentagon-wide gathering convened by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump linked his domestic focus to what he cast as decades of misdirected deployments overseas, telling the officers that “defending the homeland” had been neglected while “politicians somehow came to believe that our job is to police the far reaches of Kenya and Somalia, while America is under invasion from within.” He named San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles among cities he wants the military to help “straighten … out, one-by-one,” and argued that threats inside the United States were “no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don’t wear uniforms.”
The president also proposed using “dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” an idea he has floated in recent weeks as part of a broader push to redirect the services toward domestic missions. The Associated Press described the address as “unusual,” noting the emphasis on cities as troop training sites and an accompanying vow by Hegseth to end “politically correct” leadership, while ABC News reported that Trump told the room he had already ordered federal forces to Portland over the weekend and threatened to expand deployments despite objections from state officials. The Posse Comitatus Act generally bars the use of federal troops for civilian law enforcement absent specific statutory authority such as the Insurrection Act, and legal analysts have said proposals to employ active-duty forces in routine urban policing would collide with those constraints. Time magazine characterized the president’s framing as a “war from within” and said the plans risk running up against Posse Comitatus.
Much of the speech focused on domestic security and culture-war themes more commonly heard at campaign rallies, and the reception inside the auditorium reflected the military’s norm of avoiding visible reactions to partisan lines. Pool reporters and multiple outlets said the room was notably quiet through extended passages; at one point Trump acknowledged the silence—“I’ve never walked into a room so silent before”—and added a joking warning that officers could “do anything you want … And if you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future.” When the address ended, some stood and offered light applause; others remained seated.
Hegseth used his own appearance to attack what he called “decades of decay” at the Pentagon, deriding “fat generals,” railing against diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and telling commanders who disagree with his approach to “do the honorable thing and resign.” USA Today and AP reported that he promised changes to fitness standards and personnel policies and defended recent firings of senior officers. The Washington Post said the secretary’s team organized the costly event and initially did not invite the president, drawing leaders “from as far away as Japan, the Middle East and Europe.” The administration has also proposed renaming the Pentagon the “Department of War,” and has announced or threatened new domestic deployments to cities that oppose federal intervention.
Trump interwove directives and asides, moving from tariffs and energy policy to nuclear deterrence and naval modernization, at one point musing about “the concept of battleship” and, in another aside that drew visible discomfort, referring to “two n-words”—nuclear and a racial slur—and saying “you can’t use either of them.” Multiple outlets noted that the delivery was more monotone and meandering than his usual campaign style and that the audience did not respond to partisan barbs against former president Joe Biden or references to the news media. The president’s suggestion that American cities become troop “training grounds” and his repeated “invasion from within” refrain, however, framed the most concrete policy thrust of the appearance.
The legal and practical implications of the plan are substantial. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 restricts the Army and Air Force (and by policy, the Navy and Marine Corps) from direct participation in civilian law enforcement; National Guard forces under state authority can support governors in emergencies, and federal troops can be used domestically only in narrow circumstances, notably under the Insurrection Act. Time’s account of the Quantico meeting said Trump wants new “quick reaction forces” to address civil disturbances, a posture that would invite tests of those statutory boundaries. ABC added that Oregon’s governor and Portland’s mayor objected after Trump claimed to have dispatched troops there; the White House has not released detailed rules of engagement or authorities for any expanded domestic deployments.
Reaction from elected officials and outside observers was swift. Reuters reported that Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, called the event “an expensive, dangerous dereliction of leadership,” criticizing both the partisan tone and the push to employ soldiers and marines inside American cities. Other critics said the gathering—held on the eve of a possible government shutdown and requiring international travel for commanders and their staffs—blurred lines between military professionalism and political theater. Supporters of the administration countered that a refocus on the homeland was overdue and that urban disorder and crime merited a harder edge from federal authorities.
The Washington Post’s account described an audience of officers who “sat expressionless” through partisan jabs and culture-war lines while taking notes on the policy sections; it quoted Trump saying “We’ve brought back the fundamental principle that defending the homeland is the military’s first and most important priority,” before adding the line about politicians policing “the far reaches of Kenya and Somalia.” ABC, which published a transcript-style summary, captured the central sound bite—“We’re under invasion from within”—and the president’s assertion that “it’s a war from within.” Both outlets said the visual tableau—a commander in chief on stage before a quiet sea of uniforms—was striking in contrast to Trump’s typical rally settings, and both noted his insistence that generals could applaud, or leave, at their own career risk.
Beyond the rhetoric, the administration signaled a programmatic direction. AP reported that Hegseth vowed to end “politically correct” leadership across the services and to reorder priorities toward homeland threats, while Trump indicated he would be “a major part” of fighting crime and unrest in blue states and cities. Politico wrote that the president justified domestic deployments by invoking historical precedents and told the audience the military should view U.S. cities as “training grounds,” echoing his broader claim that the nation faces an “enemy from within.” The Los Angeles Times and other outlets emphasized that the remarks marked a shift from traditional civil-military separation and drew a restrained response in the room.
Trump’s description of an “invasion from within” has been a recurring line in his recent speeches, used to link immigration enforcement, urban crime and political opposition under a single label. At Quantico he fused those themes with a call for greater military involvement at home and with renewed attacks on “woke” culture in the ranks. The White House has argued that post-9/11 emphasis on expeditionary campaigns diminished readiness to protect the homeland and says the new posture will reverse that trend. Critics warn that, absent a clear legal basis and narrow objectives, using soldiers as de facto police would be unlawful and destabilizing. Time’s analysis said any “quick reaction forces” aimed at civil disturbances would raise immediate Posse Comitatus questions; AP and ABC underscored the novelty of the president’s explicit direction to uniformed leaders to prepare for a “war from within.”
The staging of the event drew scrutiny on practical grounds as well. The Washington Post cited former officials who estimated that flying, lodging and transporting hundreds of flag officers and staff to Quantico would cost millions of dollars, a figure the paper said was based on government travel experience. Trump acknowledged the expense but said it was worth it for what he called a “great spiritizing” of the force. The AP described the gathering as rare and politically charged, with senior leaders from around the world summoned for speeches that paired programmatic signals—fitness standards, personnel policy—with partisan lines and domestic security proposals.
In one of the speech’s most quoted passages, Trump expanded on the “invasion from within” theme, telling the officers: “No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don’t wear uniforms.” ABC and local stations that rebroadcast the clip said the line came as he argued that the military is needed to restore order in cities he described as failing. The president did not outline a formal legal pathway—such as invoking the Insurrection Act—to authorize broader use of federal troops, nor did he specify how proposed “training ground” missions would be distinguished from law-enforcement functions restricted by statute. Hegseth, for his part, said commanders who resist his agenda should step aside.
As the audience dispersed, officials left with directives that cut sharply against the institutional instinct to keep the armed forces apart from domestic politics. The plan the president sketched—quick-reaction forces poised for urban disturbances, greater willingness to send federal troops into cities over state objections, and a rhetorical frame that casts fellow Americans as a kind of internal enemy—will rely on legal authorities the White House has not yet detailed and on a military establishment that, by custom and law, avoids domestic law-enforcement roles. Whether the proposals harden into orders that survive legal challenge will determine how much of the Quantico script moves from a speech to a doctrine. For now, the public record is clear on the central claim and the audience to whom it was delivered: “We’re under invasion from within,” the president told the nation’s most senior officers, as they listened in near silence.