People are calling Trump’s U.S. Army War College speech “bonkers”

Donald Trump attended the U.S. Army War College for what was supposed to be a serious national defense summit and turned it into a spectacle of rambling, grievance, loyalty tests, tax breaks, and war talk. While he drifted from magnets to tractors to private jets to insults, the institutions around him were being reshaped in real time: a Pentagon run by Pete Hegseth, a Justice Department nominee who slipped and called himself Trump's lawyer, an intelligence nominee who would not say Biden won in 2020, and public health systems so weakened that families are left wondering whether fresh food is safe. This is what authoritarianism looks like when it arrives through budgets, confirmations, purges, and applause.

Based on the events of 7-15-2026

The Breakdown:

* Trump opened his remarks at the U.S. Army War College by praising Lee Greenwood and the song that has become the soundtrack to his political rallies.

* The Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit was meant to focus on military investment, emerging technology, and America's defense workforce.

* Instead, Trump wandered through magnets, Caterpillar tractors, windmills, private planes, tax write-offs, and attacks on political opponents.

* He called affordability a "fake word" even as American families continue to face the pressure of groceries, rent, and basic living costs.

* Trump bragged about a wealthy friend buying an unnecessary private plane because, as he put it, "You can write that sucker off in one year."

* He mocked Joe Biden, attacked Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and praised reporter Salena Zito because she writes favorably about him.

* At the Army War College, Trump joked about pardoning service members convicted or accused in serious war crimes cases after Pete Hegseth lobbied for them.

* Hegseth was praised as "amazing" because, according to Trump, "all he wanted to talk about is war."

* Hegseth announced mandatory testosterone screening for active-duty male service members over thirty, calling it part of the "High-T Department of War."

* Medical guidelines do not support blanket testosterone testing, and the Pentagon did not explain what research justifies the program.

* The policy appears to exclude women while Hegseth has also blocked promotions for senior women in the military and removed female leaders from top posts.

* Seven senior Navy officers were reportedly blocked from promotion to two-star admiral, including all seven women selected by promotion boards.

* Rear Admiral Amy Bauernschmidt, the first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was among those blocked.

* CBS News reported that senior Pentagon officials have been examining military options for a possible assault on Cuba involving the 101st Airborne Division.

* Todd Blanche, Trump's nominee for attorney general, told senators "I'm his lawyer" before correcting himself, exposing the loyalty problem at the center of the nomination.

* Blanche would not clearly commit to keeping federal agents away from polling places in November.

* Jay Clayton, Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, refused to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

* Clayton defended subpoenas of New York Times reporters while claiming to respect the First Amendment.

* Nearly 7,000 confirmed or suspected cyclosporiasis cases have now been reported across thirty-four states, with 141 hospitalizations and no confirmed source.

* The larger pattern is smaller government where it protects the public and bigger government where it serves power, money, punishment, and war.

This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

I'm Heather Tlaney Reese, and you're listening to Hope for America, where every day I bring you the truth about our politics, our country, and the forces trying to destroy them. Together, we cut through the noise, expose the lies, and stay focused on what really matters, fighting for the survival of our country.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

At 3:31 in the afternoon, Donald Trump stood on the stage at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, swaying back and forth as God bless the USA echoed through the stadium. Soaking in the attention with a huge grin on his face, he rocked gently to the music, moving his hands back and forth while a room packed with members of the military, defense industry, executives, billionaire financiers, and government leaders rose to their feet, clapping and cheering. When the song finally ended, Trump lowered himself into his chair, leaned towards the microphone, and opened his nearly 55-minute remarks with, Wow, what a great song that is. We've all heard it. It became hot. Lee became very wealthy, referring to the man who sings the anthem that has become the opening soundtrack to nearly every one of Trump's public appearances. The purpose of the 2026 Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit was straightforward. Strengthen America's military, announce billions of dollars in defense investments, showcase advances in emerging technologies, and prepare the workforce needed to build them. It was supposed to be a serious discussion about the future of our national defense. Instead, the president of the United States spent his time talking about magnets. I'll tell you how to make money, do magnets. Then came Caterpillar tractors. I watch more tractors than any human being on Earth, he said, describing how they rip right through rock. He moved on to Windmills, then to a wealthy friend who bought an expensive private plane he did not need because, as Trump explained, you can write that sucker off in one year. Can you believe it? He called affordability, one of the biggest economic concerns, facing American families, a fake word. He mocked Joe Biden as the audience laughed. Don't fall down the stairs like Biden. He invented a story claiming companies had to hire transgender executives to qualify for CHIPS Act funding. And at the U.S. Army War College, he drifted into the Battle of Gettysburg and observed what a war that was when you read about it. He made a juvenile joke about Democrats and the letter B in the word dumb. He praised Pete Heggseth because all he wanted to talk about was war before joking about pardoning service members convicted in high-profile war crime cases, including one involving the killing of a young girl. At one point, he paused to ask the room, I hope I'm not boring anybody, while also telling the room, I'll tell you how to make money. Do magnets. And as animated as he became whenever it was his turn to speak, the moment someone else took the microphone, his eyes grew heavy, his face went blank, he repeatedly appeared to nod off during the rest of the summit. At one point, only seeming to regain his attention after Pete Heggseth addressed him directly, President. The President of the United States was at the U.S. Army War College, an institution founded in 1901 to educate the nation's most senior military leaders. It's where strategy is studied, doctrine is written, and the lessons of every American conflict are preserved so future generations don't repeat the mistakes of the past. On a day when the United States was already engaged in what many are calling our newest forever war, the one against Iran, the same conflict that has reportedly depleted stocks of Tomahawk cruise missiles and patriot and THAD interceptors to levels analysts say could take years to replenish, Donald Trump used the moment to campaign for the midterm elections, attack his political opponents, and repeat claims that had nothing to do with the reason everyone in that room had gathered. Yesterday was also the day CBS News reported that senior Pentagon officials had been quietly examining military options for a potential assault on Cuba, including an operation involving thousands of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division. It was the day the man nominated to lead the Department of Justice sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee and accidentally referred to himself as the president's personal attorney. It was the day the man nominated to oversee the nation's intelligence community refused to say who won the 2020 election. And it was the day Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth announced mandatory testosterone screening for male service members over 30, proudly branding it the high T Department of War. It was another day under the reign of Donald J. Trump. And when he was not talking about magnets, he was telling the room how his friend, a man who had never flown on a private plane in his life, went out and bought a very expensive one. He did not need just for the tax write-off. Then he turned to JP Morgan, CEO, Jamie Diamond, and said, Jamie, can expand his bank and pointed to the building and said, You can write that sucker off in one year. Can you believe it? And then he complimented a SEAL contractor on the construction. I want to know that SEAL contractor, he did a great job. A great job, actually. He called affordability a fake word. He said Democrats invented it, and this is the president of the United States dismissing the single biggest economic crisis facing American families as a linguistic trick. Minutes after bragging about a friend's unnecessary private jet in a room full of people who will never have to choose between groceries and rent. He praised a journalist he called Selena, who is actually Selena Zito, a national political reporter for the Washington Examiner and a special contributor to the Washington Post. That's only because she writes so well about me, he said, grinning. You know, if she wrote badly, I'd say get her the hell out of here. Selena, thank you, honey, very much. He said this at a defense summit out loud on camera. If you write favorably about him, I'll call you honey, a talent, a really amazing person. If you write honestly, you are stupid, nasty, or a piggy, which is what he has called reporters in the past. He attacked Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, saying Shapiro doesn't have what it takes, and then he added, reading directly from his script, I tell the truth. That's coming from a man who lies about everything constantly. That line was no doubt added for him to read because his enablers know how repetition with propaganda works. You say it enough times in enough rooms and it stops sounding like a claim and it starts sounding like a fact to the people who want to believe it. But maybe most damning was his accidental admission about who is running the war machine they are building. Secretary of War Pete Heggset. He's been amazing. Pete, thank you very much. Great job. He's been really amazing. You know, he used to do interviews. All he wanted to talk about is war. Sir, would you give a pardon to 19 soldiers? Why, why? Well, they killed a lot of people. They were trained to kill, and that's what they did. And he pardoned a lot of them, but we've all been well behaved, right? Okay, good. Otherwise, it'll be a big story. Trump shouldn't have let him go. But I'm blaming you, Pete. That's what Donald Trump said, batting coherent mess. And he was laughing as he said it, joking at the Army War College about pardoning people who killed civilians. Some of the people Trump pardoned or reversed demotions and restored ranks at Hag Seth's lobbying included a Navy SEAL who was turned in by their own fellow SEALs for a series of crimes they said they witnessed in Iraq, where a young girl and an old man were shot with a sniper rifle. The same SEAL allegedly also walked up to a wounded teenage fighter who was being treated by a Navy medic and stabbed him to death with a hunting knife. They were acquitted of the murder charge but convicted of posting for a photo with the dead teenager's body. Trump refers their demotion after Hagseth, then a Fox News weekend host, lobbied for them on air and in private. The former SEAL went on Fox and Friends afterwards and thanked Hagseth and Fox News for being with us from day one. Another was an Army first lieutenant convicted in 2013 of second-degree murder for ordering his soldiers to open fire on unarmed Afghan civilians. Nine members of his own platoon testified against him at trial. One of his subordinates told the New York Times, one of the first things he said to us was, we're going to go in Gestapo style with night raids, pull people out of houses, make them afraid of us. He was serving a 19-year sentence at Fort Levinsworth when Trump pardoned him. A third was an Army major at Green Beret charged with murdering an unarmed Afghan detainee in 2010. He took the man off base, shot him, buried his remains, then later dug up the body and burned it in a trash pit. He admitted to the killing during a CIA interview. In all three cases, Hegzeth personally lobbied the president. He called them warriors, not war criminals. He said on air that pardoning them would be heartening for guys like me, and then it could have been me. He said, you train someone to go and fight and kill the enemy, then they kill the enemy the way someone doesn't like, and then we put them in jail. And the thing is, it's not about war. It's not about the enemy, it's about dignity. It's about holding our dignity. It's how we treat other people, enemies, citizens, it doesn't matter. There was a level of dignity and humanity that the United States stood for. These people broke that. Because when you break the most basic things like that, first of all, that's how they would treat our detainees or our prisoners of war. That's why those standards matter so much and the humanity of it. That is who is running the Department of Defense, or as he likes to call it, the Department of War. A man who was chosen because all he wanted to talk about is war. And probably because of the looks that Donald Trump admires. The man who announced that the Pentagon will begin mandatory testosterone screening for all active duty male service members over 30 and branding the program the High T Department of War. Listen, I support gender-affirming care. Testosterone replacement therapy is hormone replacement therapy. And hormone replacement therapy is health care. The Pentagon did not respond to questions about whether female troops would be screened for estrogen, also a hormone. So far, they appear to be excluding women entirely. This is the same defense secretary who has said women should not serve in combat roles, who has blocked military promotions for women, and who has fired senior women in military leadership. And I want to add something else. That's not a broad screening of men for testosterone levels, is that's not good medicine. It's not evidence-based. Multiple endocrinologists have come out saying you treat symptoms. You don't just blanket tests because levels don't matter in that context necessarily. But if we're going to go ahead and we're going to fine-tune hormones, women need to be included. The military is comprised of both men and women. And also, we need to be offering treatment for deficiencies. Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who lost both legs in combat, called the announcement gender-affirming care to be. Representative Chrissy Julian, an Air Force veteran, said it proves that Secretary Hegseth takes direction from the far corners of the manosphere. Both called on Hegseth to make hormone testing available for women. So far, he has not said he would. Current medical guidelines recommend against blanket testosterone testing. Accurate readings require fasting and morning blood draws. Testosterone replacement therapy can create a lifelong dependency by shutting down natural production. When treatment is stopped, men can experience withdrawal, severe depression, and the permanent inability to naturally produce testosterone. The Pentagon did not respond to questions about research or studies supporting the program because it's not evidence-based. And also I want to add that if this is of interest to you, seek out the professionals that really understand this. Talk to your own doctor about it. There's plenty of information out there that it's actually evidence-based, fact-based, and medical-led. The logic of a government chemically enhancing its soldiers for battlefield performance is not new. During World War II, the Nazis distributed Pervidin, a methamphetamine to millions of German soldiers, physiologists, military physiologists, Otto Rank championed the program, saying it would help defeat the enemy with chemically enhanced soldiers, soldiers who could give Germany a military edge by fighting harder and longer than their opponents. Between April and July of 1940 alone, German servicemen received more than 35 million methamphetamine tablets. The Temmler factory pressed as many as 833,000 per day. The framing was identical to what Heggseth said yesterday. Maintained the biological foundation to fight, keeping troops on the leading edge of lethality. The consequences were devastating, exhaustion, psychosis, heart failure, suicide, longtime, lifelong dependency. The government decided that soldiers' natural biology was insufficient and intervened chemically. And the long-term health consequences were downplayed or ignored. The substances are different. The logic is the same. And it also asked the question: why do we need to ramp up our military? What's coming? What do they plan to do? And while Hag Seth was announcing testosterone screening for men and excluding women from the program entirely, he was also personally blocking the promotions of seven senior Navy officers to two-star admiral. Five of the seven were women or people of color. All seven women selected by the promotion boards were removed. No white men were removed. For the first time in more than a decade, no female active duty naval officer will be promoted to admiral this year. Among those blocked was Amy Barschmidt, the first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. For the first time in nearly two decades, there are no active duty women serving as four-star generals or admirals in the United States military. Haig Seth fired Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the Navy, and the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He fired Admiral Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead a military branch. He fired two additional female three-star admirals. No explanations were given for any of it. When the New York Times asked for comment, the Pentagon accused the paper of having a toxic obsession with race and identity. Now I'm using the word fired. Whatever they want to use is on their terms, but that's what appears to have happened. He is not building a stronger military. He's building a boys' club with a war machine attached to it, and he is hollowing out the force by driving out a quarter of the talent pool while simultaneously planning new wars with the portion that remains. And meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, two confirmation hearings that ran simultaneously with the summit revealed the other half of the project, filling every position of power with people whose loyalty runs to one man, not the Constitution. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general and Trump's nominee for attorney general, sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee at a desk draped in black cloth and flowers honoring the late Senator Lindsey Graham. When Republican Senator John Kennedy asked Blanche point blank whether he and the president are friends, Blanche replied without hesitation, I'm his lawyer. He caught himself and corrected the tense, but the truth had already left his mouth. Senator Trek Schumer called it an all-time Freudian slip and completely disqualifying. Senator Dick Durbin told Blanche, your tenure can be summed up in the four words you said, I love you, sir, which is what Blanche had said prior. And when pressed on whether he would commit to keeping federal agents away from the polling locations in November, Blanche stopped short of making that pledge. He said he was not aware of armed agents at polling places, which is not a commitment. That is a non-answer designed to leave the door open. They can only imagine what will happen if he is confirmed. His confirmation is not assured, though. Graham's death left the Judiciary Committee with just one Republican vote to lose. Senator Cormann has not committed. Senator Tillis, who is not seeking re-election, has not committed. Mitch McConnell remains out for health reasons. More than 1,200 Department of Justice alumni have signed a letter opposing Blanche's confirmation. In another committee room, Jay Clayton, Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence, sat before the Senate Intelligence Committee and was asked repeatedly by multiple Democratic senators whether Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. Clayton said he was not an election denier and that Biden was certified as president, but he would not say who won. He also said the audit trail that we have available for our elections in a number of places is not the kind of audit trail that you would expect in something that is this important. That is the man who would oversee the entire intelligence committee, including its election security assessments, validating the foundation of Trump's fraud narrative while carefully avoiding the words that would make it explicit. Clayton also defended his role in authorizing subpoenas of New York Times reporters over the weekend after the outlet reported on security concerns regarding Trump's new Qatari Air Force One. He said he was absolutely committed to and respect our First Amendment, while simultaneously going after the reporters who exercised it. Last night I stood in my kitchen for far longer than I should have, trying to figure out what was safe to feed my family. It is the middle of July. This is peak season for fresh fruits and vegetables. Normally we would have a big salad and berries or grapes for dinner. Instead, I found myself standing there thinking through what to have instead and reaching for frozen vegetables instead of fresh. Not because of a drought or a supply chain crisis, but because the government that is supposed to track the safety of our food supply decided it was not worth the money. Nearly 7,000 confirmed or suspected cases of cyclosporosis have now been reported across 34 states. 141 people have been hospitalized. No definitive source has been identified, yet Michigan's health officials assume to be pointing to lettuce and salad greens, but nobody knows for certain because the tools that were supposed to tell us have been taken apart. When the Trump administration said smaller government and less waste, most Americans heard less red tape, more personal freedom. That is not what smaller government means to this administration. What it means is fewer people doing the work we need to stay healthy, fewer food safety inspections, fewer scientists tracking parasites in the food supply, fewer independent agency heads, fewer career professionals at the Department of Justice who might refuse an illegal order, fewer guardrails between a president and unchecked power. Smaller does not mean freer. Smaller means easier to capture and control. And once you capture it, you can do whatever you want with it. They're tearing down everything that serves the people: food safety, environmental protections, voting rights, the independence of the courts, the Department of Justice, the intelligence community, the career federal workforce, and they are building up the one thing that serves power, the war machine. That is their whole strategy. When they talk about shrinking government, they are not shrinking the government's power. They are shrinking the part of the government that serves the public and acts as a check on the people in charge. If the only people left leading the departments that remain are Trump loyalists, there are fewer people who can push back, expose this corruption, refuse the illegal orders, or tell the American people the truth. These jobs don't simply disappear. They are either left vacant or filled by people chosen because they are loyal to the administration rather than to the mission of the agency. At the same time, the money doesn't disappear either. It gets redirected. Instead of paying for the work that protects Americans and building upon more of that, more of it just flows into the priorities of the people in power through defense spending, tax breaks, government contracts, and programs that benefit the politically connected. The government becomes smaller where it serves us and larger where it serves them. The concentration of power makes government easier to control. The concentration of money makes it easier to funnel taxpayer dollars, tax breaks, and government contracts towards Trump, his family, and the network of enablers who keep him in power and who benefit from him being in that position. What happened yesterday across multiple rooms and multiple institutions took the United States one step deeper into authoritarianism. Everyone enabling Donald Trump is complicit in what has happened and in whatever comes next. History will remember every single one of them for the choices they made in this moment. And if history is any guide, accountability has a way of arriving, even if it takes far longer than any of us would like. It took years, and in some cases decades, to hold the people who carried out the crimes of Nazi Germany accountable. But the evidence survived as the documents, photographs, testimonies, the names, and history did what history always does. It remembered, not the version the regime tried to write, the real one. No pardons will change that. No man, no matter how powerful he believes himself to be, can outrun the record of what he did or what he asked others to do. Propaganda fades when the machine that produces it is dismantled, but evidence endures and history is patient. And that is why I still have hope for America and you should too. And remember, no matter how dark the days get, I will be here every single day, and together we will always find hope for America. I'll see you tomorrow.