On Sept. 30, 2025, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth convened a meeting of top generals at the Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia, in what many news media outlets referred to as a last-minute gathering. During the meeting, Hegseth gave a speech to the assembled officials in which he purportedly criticized "fat" troops and generals.
Many social media users highlighted sections of Hegseth's speech. One post on X stated:
Hegseth calls out "fat" troops and generals. He says going forward, every service member will need to pass the physical test twice a year if they want to remain a member of the armed services.
He says being a fat soldier is "unacceptable".
He's correct.
Hegseth did indeed criticize "fat" troops and generals and called for changes in their physical training. We obtained footage of him making the statement as well as transcript of his speech from the Department of Defense's website. As such, this claim is a correct attribution.
Hegseth's comments began at the 16:20 mark:
Per the official transcript (archived) from the Department of Defense (which was rebranded to the Department of War by President Donald Trump), Hegseth said, "Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world."
We reproduced his full comments below (emphasis ours):
The new War Department golden rule is this: do unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child's unit. Would you want him serving with fat or unfit or under trained troops or alongside people who can't meet basic standards, or in a unit where standards were lowered so certain types of troops could make it in, in a unit where leaders were promoted for reasons other than merit, performance and warfighting? The answer is not just no, it's hell no.
[…]
I'm also directing that warfighters in combat jobs execute their service fitness test at a gender-neutral age normed male standard scored above 70 percent.
It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the Secretary of War can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It's a bad look. It is bad, and it's not who we are.
So, whether you're an airborne Ranger or a chairborne Ranger, a brand new private or a four star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass your PT test. And as the chairman said, yes, there is no PT test. But today, at my direction, every member of the joint force at every rank is required to take a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year every year of service.
Also today, at my direction, every warrior across our joint force is required to do PT every duty day. It should be common sense, and most units do that already, but we're codifying it. And we're not talking, like, hot yoga and stretching, real hard PT and as -- either as a unit or as an individual.
Hegseth also spoke about "grooming standards" calling on military personnel to shave. He said, "We don't have a military full of Nordic pagans," and declared there would be "no more beardos." He criticized diversity initiatives in the military, saying, "No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses."
As of this writing, different branches of the U.S. military have different physical fitness tests. The Army adopted a five-event assessment — which consists of "the three-repetition maximum deadlift, hand-release push-up, sprint-drag-carry, plank and two-mile run" — in June 2025.
We have covered a number of rumors about Hegseth, including analyzing his past statements opposing the inclusion of women in combat roles.