This Just In — The usual excuses and deflection aren’t going to be enough to explain away the performance of the president this week in an inexplicable meeting of America’s top military officials.
So let’s start where the meeting started, continued and finished. Let’s start with the awe-inspiring and debilitating silence and stillness that greeted the Secretary of Defense and then the President when they walked on stage in Quantico, Virginia. I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and I’ve been to my share of demonstrations for the cause of human rights, fair housing and a better society overall. I know what it takes to create an effective demonstration.
Except for the guy in front of the Tiananmen Square tank, nobody ever made a better demonstration of resistance than those generals did this week. Nobody.
Forget about a thousand words, the images from that event were worth the Oxford English Dictionary. The discipline, the professionalism of these military leaders sitting with perfect posture, shoulder to shoulder — as though in formation — facing forward and without expression was a stunning contrast with ranting Defense Secretary lecturing about fitness and appearance and the abandonment of rules of engagement – the Geneva conventions.
President Donald Trump is greeted by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth before speaking to a gathering of top U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sep. 30, 2025 in Quantico, Va. (Photo via AP Photo/Evan Vucci.)
It’s beyond the concept of irony that Secretary Haircut (or Secretary Headscratch as a local gray-haired lady calls him) would have the audacity to call such a meeting with no clear necessity so he could engage in the ego trip of lecturing people whose boots he is unworthy to shine.
Then came the boss, who made it clear he was uncomfortable with the expectation that the officers would not laugh or applaud as Trump expects at one of his rallies. “You can laugh and applaud if you want,” said Trump.
They didn’t.
They stayed in their formation and they watched a malignant narcissist ramble from subject to subject hoping to get a rise out of the crowd and being entirely denied the feedback that a performer needs to keep going. It was disastrous. Worse than Biden in the debate. Much much worse.
U.S. military senior leadership listen as President Donald Trump speaks at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sep. 30, 2025 in Quantico, Va. (Photo via AP Photo/Evan Vucci.)
These officers had to be wondering how to plan for refusing orders that were promised by their commander-in-chief. Taking their troops and marching through American cities to use them “as military training grounds” is expressly prohibited by the Constitution to which they swore their oath.
What to do if/when they get orders to deploy overseas against another country? The president has repeatedly bragged about stopping multiple wars, many of which never existed. He thinks that Portland, Oregon is “a war zone” because of years-old protest coverage that he saw on television. He wants to send troops there.
Instead of working with Congressional leadership to work out a deal to fund the government, he’s either playing golf or posting (a lot) on social media FAKE videos and racist memes about democrats.
The president is not okay. These indicators are not him making disparaging jokes that aren’t funny. These are things that would NEVER be tolerated by any corporation and endanger all of us every single day. He seems to have less and less of a grip on reality, and J.D. Vance looks like a guy waiting to make his move.
If the 25th Amendment is to be invoked, it must be initiated by the Vice President and agreed to by the majority of the Cabinet — the biggest collection of dumbbells since the UNC Board of Trustees met in secret to hire an overrated football coach.
At least we can count on one thing. Republicans are obviously terrified of Trump, but they’re likely more afraid of being sent home, unemployed. They are to blame for the current shutdown and they have been enabling a mentally unfit president. Must he wander into the Cabinet room naked before they realize they must act or can they just figure this one out based on their own naked ambition?
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
