President Trump plans to attend the Tuesday meeting in Quantico with generals and admirals that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called last week, according to a source familiar.
Mr. Trump told NBC News in an interview that the meeting is going to be a “nice meeting talking about how well we’re doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things.”
“It’s just a good message,” Mr. Trump said. “We have some great people coming in and it’s just an ‘esprit de corps.’ You know the expression ‘esprit de corps’? That’s all it’s about. We’re talking about what we’re doing, what they’re doing, and how we’re doing.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Trump’s attendance was first reported by Axios.
U.S. officials confirmed last week that generals and admirals were being called in from all over the world for a meeting at Quantico, but no further details were given.
Mr. Trump told reporters on Thursday of the meeting “I love it.”
“Let them be friendly with the generals and admirals from all over the world,” he said. “Is there something wrong with it?”
There are regularly scheduled meetings with senior military leaders, but a meeting of this size — in person and on such short notice — is rare, if not unprecedented.
