Hegseth gets 'frank feedback' as military's highest-ranking officer balks at new strategy

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is proposing a new National Defense Strategy — and is running into a wave of opposition that includes Donald Trump’s hand-picked choice as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to a report from the Washington Post, when Hegseth meets with the U.S. Armed Forces leadership at the highly controversial gathering at a Marine Base in Quantico, Virginia on Tuesday, his new proposal to reorder the Pentagon’s priorities is casting a cloud over the meet-up.

The Washingon Post reported there is a growing divide between the Pentagon’s “political and uniformed leadership” over proposed changes that have “raised serious concerns” at the highest levels. The report noted that Joint Chiefs Chair Gen.Dan Caine is leading the charge.

“The debate over the National Defense Strategy — the Pentagon’s primary guide for how it prioritizes resources and positions U.S. forces around the world — is the latest challenge for top military officials navigating the Trump administration’s unorthodox approach to the armed forces,” the Post reported.

“The draft plan has been shared widely with military leaders from the global combatant commands to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, some of whom questioned what its priorities would mean for a force designed to respond to crises around the globe, according to three people familiar with the matter.”

According to Pentagon insiders, Caine has “shared his concerns with top Pentagon leadership” over the past few weeks, with one aide stating, “He gave Hegseth very frank feedback. I don’t know if Hegseth even understands the magnitude of the NDS, which is why I think Caine tried so hard.”

According to the report, Hegseth wants to pull back from military commitments to Europe, which has alarmed Pentagon officials.

“Much of the internal criticism of the new strategy regards the document’s emphasis on threats to the U.S. homeland even as China continues a rapid military buildup that uniformed leaders have warned is narrowing the U.S.’s edge in the Pacific, according to several people familiar with the matter,” the report noted, with one official bluntly stating, “There’s a concern that it’s just not very well thought out.”

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