Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned the military’s top officers — hundreds of generals and admirals — to a base in northern Virginia for a sudden meeting next week, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The directive did not offer a reason for the gathering Tuesday of senior commanders of the one-star rank or higher and their top advisers at the Marine Corps base in Quantico. The people, who described the move as unusual, were not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive plans and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The meeting, first reported by The Washington Post, comes on the heels of several unusual and unexplained actions that Hegseth has taken involving military leaders.
Other news we’re following:
Trump hosts Turkish president: Trump held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday and signaled that the United States might soon lift its hold on sales of advanced fighter jets to Ankara. During Trump’s first term, the U.S. removed Turkey, a NATO ally, from its flagship F-35 fighter jet program after Turkey purchased an air defense system from Russia. U.S. officials worried that Turkey’s use of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system could be used to gather data on the capabilities of the F-35 and that the information could end up in Russian hands.Trump snubs Biden with autopen photo on new Presidential Walk of Fame: Trump has added a Presidential Walk of Fame to the exterior of the White House, featuring portraits of each of the previous commanders-in-chief. But instead of a headshot of Joe Biden, Trump instead hung a photo of an autopen signing the Democrat’s name — a reference to Trump’s frequent allegation that the former president was addled by the end of his term in office and not really the one making decisions.DOJ to try to charge ex-FBI Director James Comey, AP sources say: The Justice Department is preparing to ask a grand jury as soon as Thursday to indict former FBI Director James Comey on allegations that he lied to Congress, as prosecutors approach a legal deadline for bringing charges, according to two people familiar with the matter. When asked about a possible federal indictment, Trump said he doesn’t know what will happen and that department lawyers will decide.