Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth held an expensive military meeting-that-could-have-been-an-email hours before the government is likely to shutdown.

The decision, first reported by The Washington Post, exacerbates existing security concerns over gathering hundreds of senior military officers in Quantico.

Tuesday’s meeting at a Marine Corps base appears to be without precedent, and a lack of explanation for it has led to speculation and fear.

Why are hundreds of Trump and Hegseth's top military commanders gathering at Quantico and what will it cost?

Top military officials gather at Quantico base for mysterious meeting, sparking speculation and intrigue in Washington.

Hundreds of military leaders have been summoned from all over the world to a Virginia base with little notice.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the country's military elite new reforms would weed political correctness from the U.S. armed forces.

The defense secretary railed against fat service members and hot yoga, while the president delivered his usual rambling nonsense.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke before a gathering of top military brass in Quantico, Va., from around the world Tuesday.

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth held an expensive military meeting-that-could-have-been-an-email hours before the government is likely to shutdown.

Former Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling called the gathering “somewhat shocking” and “filled with mistruths,” and suspected “it’s not being taken well” by the troops.

Hegseth launched into a vulgar tirade against service members who don’t fit his specific vision of who should represent the U.S.

Harold Ford Jr. said he wasn't convinced about one thing regarding the Trump defense secretary's address.

The Trump administration evidently seeks to transform the US military into a partisan tool of the president’s regime

State media and online commenters question the cost and value of summoning the officers from around the world.

President and his defence chief took aim at the ‘fat generals’, but some doubted there was much substance to the swagger on show