Big: President Trump Speaks to Military Leaders at Quantico

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump addressed the assembled general/flag-level officer commanders of the entire United States military, along with their senior enlisted advisors and select others. Standing in front of a large American flag, somewhat reminiscent of the famous General George Patton's 3rd Army speech from the movie "Patton," the president delivered remarks on a variety of topics, but one set of comments stood out. Specifically, the president called out some domestic problems, including drug smuggling, illegal immigration, and crime in our major cities.

Is he planning an increased military role in those matters?

First, the president's clear warning to the cartels involves something that is already happening.

🔥🔥🔥Trump sends a CLEAR WARNING to the drug cartels:

"If you try to poison our people, we will blow you out of existence." pic.twitter.com/EirTnZ628p
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 30, 2025

The president said:

If you try to poison our people, we will blow you out of existence. Because it's the only language they really understand. That's why you don't see any more boats on the ocean. You don't see any boats. Around Venezuela, there's nothing.

As noted, this is already happening, and the prospect of being converted into flying spare parts by a U.S. Navy missile strike tends to make drug smugglers feel maladjusted. For the time being, at least, this tactic is working.

The president also counted coup on the administration's actions in the nation's capital, and here's where things get interesting:

🚨Trump sends a message to Democrats running crime-ridden cities:

"Washington, D.C went from our most unsafe city to just about our safest city in a period of a month…

…it seems that the [cities] run by the radical-left Democrats…they’re very unsafe places. We’re gonna… pic.twitter.com/OfuKwTs2wj
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 30, 2025

Here, the president said:

I went out to dinner with my crew. I haven't done that. In theory, I wouldn't do it. And, I felt totally safe. And nobody's been attacked, nobody's been hurt. Washington D.C. went from our most unsafe city to just about our safest city in a period of a month. We had it under control in 12 days. But give us another 15-16 days it's been... it's perfect. And people other than politicians have looked bad, they think, you know, the Democrats run most of the cities that are in bad shape. We have many cities in great shape, too, by the way, I want you to know that. But it seems like the ones that are run by the radical left Democrats, what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they're very unsafe places. We're going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. It's a war, too. It's a war from within. Controlling the physical territory of our borders is essential to national security. We can't let these people in.

The border comment is easily understandable; the military does have a role to play in border security, and President Trump has already moved along those lines. But in the cities? It seems the president is implying a role for the military in bringing crime in our major cities under control. While National Guard troops have as a primary mission dealing with civil unrest, rioting, and rebellion (see: Portland, Oregon), the regular military would seem to require an invocation of the Insurrection Act to be deployed to handle these situations. Is that what the president is planning? If not, why bring the topic up to our generals and flag officers?

Meeting of the Generals: So Now Democrats Are Worried About Spending?

The president continues:

TRUMP: "We are under invasion from within!" pic.twitter.com/ibMFPe7Dn7
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 30, 2025

This is our most important priority, that's what it is. Only in recent decades did politicians somehow come to believe that our job is to police the far reaches of Kenya and Somalia while America is under invasion from within. We're under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don't wear uniforms. At least when they're wearing a uniform you can take them out. These people don't have uniforms. But we are under invasion from within. We're stopping it. Very quickly.

This meeting, we should note, has been cast as an "esprit de corps" meeting, more than a mission statement. But in his remarks here, the president sure seems to be implying an increased role for the nation's armed forces, internally, to help with unrest in the cities, to help with illegal immigration, and border enforcement.

How much is rhetoric? How much is the action plan? That remains to be seen.

Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.

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