Never had so many admirals and generals been summoned from Europe, Asia and the Middle East to a single military base. Because such a gathering has no apparent modern precedent, you would think that the event Tuesday in Quantico, Virginia, was for a good reason. But that wasn’t the case.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to fly in more than 800 of the United States’ most senior military officers to sit through two hours of banal, rambling speeches reflects how far the Pentagon has come in eight months of this administration, becoming subject to President Donald Trump’s politics and the idea that troops should be used at home.

The military was once again used as a backdrop for Trump’s ongoing clashes in America’s culture wars. What played out was largely a political-rally performa

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