Today in one sentence: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth assembled hundreds of the U.S. military’s top leaders at Quantico to demand they accept his agenda or “do the honorable thing and resign”; Trump followed Hegseth’s address by telling the generals that the U.S. is under attack by an “enemy from within” and urged the military to use “dangerous cities as training grounds”; Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to accept his Gaza plan or face a “sad end"; a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration illegally targeted noncitizens for pro-Palestinian speech; U.S. consumer confidence fell in September to its lowest level since April; the U.S. government is on track to shut down at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for the first time in nearly seven years with no funding deal in place; 38% of Americans said they would blame Republicans if the government shuts down; and 43% of voters approve of Trump’s job performance, while 54% disapprove.

1/ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth assembled hundreds of the U.S. military’s top leaders at Quantico to demand they accept his agenda or “do the honorable thing and resign.” He said it was “completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals,” ordered all combat roles to meet the “highest male standard only,” and tightened grooming rules with “No more beardos.” Hegseth vowed to overhaul how the Pentagon handles discrimination complaints, called existing rules of engagement “stupid,” and told senior officers that they’ve been corrupted by “decades of decay” inflicted by “woke” political and military leaders. The auditorium of generals and admirals, flown in from around the world on short notice, sat mostly in silence. Some defense officials later dismissed the gathering as a “total waste of money” that “could have been an email.” (Reuters / ABC News / The Hill / Axios / CNN / Washington Post / New York Times / Politico)

2/ Trump followed Hegseth’s address by telling the generals that the U.S. is under attack by an “enemy from within” and urged the military to use “dangerous cities as training grounds.” He directed military leaders to be “a major part” of fighting a “war from within,” claiming Democratic-led cities such as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles were “unsafe” and that he’d “straighten them out one by one.” Trump warned officers they could leave if they disliked his remarks, “of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future,” and threatened to fire commanders “right on the spot.” During his 72-minute speech, Trump referred to nuclear weapons as “the ‘N-word’ – there are two N-words and you can’t use either of them,” claimed the armed forces had been weakened by “political correctness,” and said it was his idea to rename the Defense Department the “War Department.” The audience of generals and admirals remained silent for nearly the entire speech, offering only muted applause at the end. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Washington Post / USA Today / NPR / Axios / The Hill / NBC News / Politico / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press)

3/ Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to accept his Gaza plan or face a “sad end.” His 20-point peace plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages within 72 hours in exchange for 250 life-sentence prisoners and 1,700 detainees, Hamas’s disarmament, and a “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump to oversee Gaza while Israel keeps a buffer zone. Trump said there was “not much” room to negotiate and vowed Israel would have his “full backing to finish the job.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, vowed to “finish the job” if Hamas rejected the deal. (Politico / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / CBS News / Reuters / Wall Street Journal)

4/ A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration illegally targeted noncitizens for pro-Palestinian speech, running an “ideological deportation” campaign that “continues unconstitutionally to chill freedom of speech to this day.” U.S. District Judge William Young said noncitizens lawfully in the U.S. “unequivocally” have the same First Amendment rights as citizens. Young found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio “misused the sweeping powers” of their offices to “strike fear” and chill campus protests. In a 161-page opinion, Young called the effort a “truly scandalous and unconstitutional suppression of free speech” and said he will decide remedies after a later proceeding. (Associated Press / Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / Bloomberg)

5/ U.S. consumer confidence fell in September to its lowest level since April. The index dropped 3.6 points to 94.2, and the Conference Board said “appraisal of current job availability fell for the ninth straight month.” Expectations for the economy remained below the threshold that signals recession risk. Government data this month showed the weakest job growth in years and unemployment at 4.3%. (Bloomberg / Associated Press)

6/ The U.S. government is on track to shut down at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for the first time in nearly seven years with no funding deal in place. Democrats said they won’t support a short-term bill unless it includes Affordable Care Act subsidies and a reversal of Medicaid cuts, while Republicans have insisted on a “clean” extension through Nov. 21. Senate Majority Leader John Thune claimed Democrats were holding funding “hostage,” while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it “their shutdown.” The House already passed a Republican stopgap plan, but is adjourned until next week, leaving no path for talks. The last shutdown was in 2018–2019 and stretched a record 35 days. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 750,000 federal workers will be furloughed daily at a cost of “roughly $400 million,” while Trump said “a lot of good” could come from a shutdown by cutting “Democrat things” and firing “a lot” of federal workers. (ABC News / NBC News / CNN / CNBC / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Axios / Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times)

poll/ 38% of Americans said they would blame Republicans if the government shuts down, while 27% said Democrats would be at fault, 31% said both parties would share blame, and 4% said neither. (NPR)

poll/ 43% of voters approve of Trump’s job performance, while 54% disapprove. 61% say he has gone too far in pressuring media organizations, 53% say the same about sending National Guard troops into cities, and 51% say he has gone too far on immigration enforcement. 65% of voters say Democrats shouldn’t shut down the government if their demands are not met, while 27% say they should. 33% of voters, meanwhile, say they still have faith in the political system to solve the country’s problems. (New York Times)

⏭️ Notably Next: Congress has less than 5 hours to pass a funding measure to prevent a government shutdown; and the 2026 midterms are in 399 days.

✏️ Notables.

  1. Trump pushed Republicans in multiple states to redraw congressional maps and warned holdouts like New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte of primary challenges. One Republican official said “there could very well be consequences.” Some Republicans called the push “a loyalty test” and admitted privately “they’re going to fold.” (Politico)

  2. The Trump administration moved to defund the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, which oversees 72 watchdog offices and runs Oversight.gov for whistleblowers. The Office of Management and Budget claimed inspectors general had become “corrupt, partisan, and in some cases, have lied to the public.” Senators Susan Collins and Chuck Grassley, meanwhile, warned the move would “disrupt numerous important oversight functions” and demanded an explanation. (Washington Post / Politico)

  3. A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s plan to lay off 532 Voice of America staff, calling officials’ defiance of his earlier order a violation of the law. Judge Royce Lamberth said their “obfuscation” had “wasted precious judicial time and resources” and warned it could lead to contempt. Kari Lake, the Trump ally running the agency, dismissed the ruling and claimed the courts had shown “disrespect” for Trump and his supporters. (New York Times / Axios)

  4. YouTube will pay $24.5 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit over his post–Jan. 6 suspension, directing $22 million of it to build a new White House ballroom. The payout follows Meta’s $25 million and Twitter/X’s $10 million settlements, despite experts saying Trump’s claims had little legal merit. YouTube declined to explain the deal, which ends a case dismissed by courts years earlier. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Associated Press)

  5. A First Amendment group and a watchdog asked a federal appeals court to force the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Trump’s classified documents case, which remains sealed under an order from Judge Aileen Cannon. The groups said the delay is “manifestly unreasonable” and warned that keeping the report hidden undermines accountability. Cannon, a Trump appointee, had dismissed the case last year and blocked release of the report, even though prosecutors later dropped charges against Trump’s co-defendants. (Associated Press / New York Times)

  6. Trump launched TrumpRx, a government website where Americans could buy some Pfizer drugs at a discount. Pfizer also agreed to sell drugs to Medicaid at overseas prices and to price new medicines at those levels, while receiving a three-year reprieve from tariffs and pledging $70 billion in U.S. investment. Trump said he forced the deal through tariff threats, calling it “a really big announcement.” Experts, however, warned that most Americans will see little benefit, noting Medicaid already gets steep discounts and that “The devil is in the details.” (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / CNN / New York Times)

Six years ago today: Day 984: Fractures.