PANews reported on September 26 that when a reporter asked about US Defense Secretary Hegseth's call for senior US military generals from around the world to gather for a meeting next week, US President Trump responded: "I think this is good... What's the problem with this? Why make it into a big news?" Vice President Vance said: "This is not particularly unusual... The strange thing is that you are making it into a big news." Earlier, media reports said that Hegseth had asked "hundreds" of admirals and generals around the world to gather at the Marine Corps base in Virginia early next week for unknown reasons.

Sources described the move as highly unusual, saying even senior generals and their staffs were unaware of the reason for the meeting. It is unclear whether next week's meeting is related to Hegseth's order in May to drastically reduce the number of generals and officers in the US military.