In His "State of the Force" Speech at Quantico, Pete Hegseth Calls Reporting on the Iran War "Treason, Actually" and Hands the Future of Warfare to Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich — Ruben Gallego Says "We Need the Press to Actually Be a Good Check," and Mark Kelly Asks Why People Who "Stand to Financially Benefit" Should Design It
On Sept. 30, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered his annual "State of the Force" address to troops at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. Besides announcing a further 20% cut in general and flag officer positions and a new four-star command for autonomous and drone warfare, he used the speech to attack the press over its coverage of the Iran war. "A free press is, of course, important," he said, but "partisan activism that intentionally smears the troops … is fundamentally anti-American. It's sick. It's a national betrayal. It's treason, actually," adding that "our so-called press makes Iranian state media look reasonable." He summed up the department's culture changes as "no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors." Hegseth also announced "Project Meridian," a 120-day study of robotic, AI and drone warfare co-led by Elon Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whom he called "three of our nation's best minds." SpaceX and Anduril both hold or compete for large Pentagon contracts, and Democrats on the Armed Services Committee said the arrangement put conflicted contractors in charge of designing the weapons the department would buy. The officer cuts announced in the same speech are tracked in the Hegseth officer-purge story.
“[On Project Meridian:] Forgive me if I'm skeptical of entrusting the future of American warfare to people with zero military experience who stand to financially benefit from the decisions they're making.”