U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. first lady Melania Trump attend a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States at the Pentagon, in Washington D.C., U.S., September 11, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstei

Concerns are rising as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered nearly all 800 top military officers worldwide to the U.S. for a “rare” and “urgent” meeting in Virginia — believed to be without precedent and called with no published agenda.

Calling it a “highly unusual directive,” The Washington Post, which broke the news, reported that the meeting comes “months after Hegseth’s team at the Pentagon announced plans to undertake a sweeping consolidation of top military commands.”

The meeting also comes just after President Donald Trump rebranded the DoD as the Department of War, which requires congressional approval, and amid an order from Secretary Hegseth to Pentagon reporters that they publish only approved material. It also comes just ahead of what is expected to be a federal government shutdown as Republicans so far have refused to negotiate with Democrats over healthcare funding. The Trump administration has threatened mass layoffs of federal workers on October 1 if the government shuts down.

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The secretive meeting is raising national security concerns.

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“None of the people who spoke with The Post could recall a defense secretary ever ordering so many of the military’s generals and admirals to assemble like this. Several said it raised security concerns,” the Post reported.

“People are very concerned. They have no idea what it means,” one person told the Post. “Another person said ordering hundreds of military leaders to appear in the same location is ‘not how this is done.'”

“Are we taking every general and flag officer out of the Pacific right now?” one U.S. official said. “All of it is weird.”

The Post also reported that the Defense Department “possesses highly secure videoconferencing technology that enables military officials, regardless of their location, to discuss sensitive matters with the White House, the Pentagon or both.”

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Critics are also expressing concern.

“I don’t know why Hegseth is calling this big jamboree in until I do. I can’t really evaluate it. On its face, pulling all these guys from all over the world and making them all sit in one place seems kind of stupid,” remarked retired U.S. Naval War College Professor Tom Nichols, now at The Atlantic.

“With modern secure communications all of this could be done remotely. If hundreds of top military commanders are in one place is that not a security concern?” noted Barbara Starr, the well-known former CNN national security reporter.

“Extraordinary move: Hegseth summons hundreds of generals and admirals to Quantico for reasons unknown. Good day for someone to plan an invasion,” observed Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor at The Economist.