U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he attends U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility to meet with police and the military, after deploying National Guard troops in the nation's capital, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 21, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Colonel Cedric Leighton (Ret.) said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's administration is pushing the U.S. military to assume roles that are not supposed to be its responsibility.

During an appearance on CNN Tuesday afternoon, Leighton — the network's military analyst — said: "For example, using the military in urban settings in the United States, going after certain groups, like potentially Antifa or something like that, that is not the military's role. The law would have to be changed in order to make that legal."

Earlier on Tuesday, Hegseth blasted senior officers while addressing a gathering of military officials in Virginia for being “fat generals” and said those who can’t get behind his agenda should resign.

"If the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign," he said in his speech.

The secretary announced a return to stricter physical and grooming standards, canceling beard allowances and rolling back diversity policies.

During his address, Trump told the assembled generals they could walk out if they disagreed — then warned that doing so might cost them their careers.

He also defended deploying troops in U.S. cities, called for “quick reaction forces” to respond to domestic unrest, and floated renaming the Pentagon the “Department of War.”

Reacting to the Hegseth's remarks, Leighton said, "I think interesting decisions having to be made. But I think it's very clear that most of the senior officers that were in the room are probably going to stay and they're going to try to mitigate some of the effects of this."

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