In a speech of rare political violence, Donald Trump on Tuesday called on American generals and admirals to mobilize against "the enemy within," attacking undocumented immigrants, the press, and his political opponents.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's initiative to gather the highest-ranking US military officers in Quantico, Virginia, was already highly unusual; the tone of the US president's long address was even more so.

When dealing with the military, American heads of state generally adopt a "commander-in-chief" posture, detached from partisan considerations.

Nothing like that for the 79-year-old Republican, who had declared upon leaving the White House, about this gathering of generals: "If there is someone I don't like, I would fire them immediately."

The cities "run by radical left Democrats (...) San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, these are dangerous places. And we're going to clean them up one by one, and that will be something very important to some people in this room. This is also a war. It's a war from within," Donald Trump said in an otherwise rambling speech.

- "Vicious" press -

His decision to deploy troops in several cities, which he said was to combat crime and illegal immigration, was heavily criticized by the Democratic opposition and civil liberties groups.

The American president also recalled having signed a decree creating "a rapid reaction force to suppress public order disturbances," made up of military personnel.

"This will be something very important to the people in this room, because it's the enemy within. And it will have to be dealt with before the situation gets out of hand," he told the top brass, who remained silent and impassive during his speech.

The billionaire has also repeatedly attacked the "vicious" and lying press, as well as his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

The head of the Pentagon, renamed the "War Department" by Donald Trump, had previously stated that the military must turn its back on "decades of decline" due to diversity policies, according to him.

"We're cleaning up the debris," Pete Hegseth insisted.

- No more beards or long hair -

"We have become the ministry of the 'woke', but not anymore," promised the Minister of Defence, assuring that the selection of soldiers deployed to combat would henceforth meet "only the highest masculine standard".

The former Fox News host, a proponent of virile communication, also demanded that in the future military personnel be clean-shaven, wear their hair short and be in the best physical shape.

"It is unacceptable to see overweight generals and admirals," he said.

The Defense Secretary said he wanted to wipe the slate clean of "ideological garbage" left by the previous administration, citing the fight against global warming, harassment, "toxic" leaders, and promotion based on race or gender as examples.

"Together we are awakening the warrior spirit," added Donald Trump.

- Dismissed -

The Ministry of Defense, usually relatively immune to direct political intervention, was particularly affected by its return to the White House in January.

In May, Pete Hegseth ordered significant reductions in the number of senior military officers, including a reduction of at least 20 percent in the number of serving four-star generals and admirals.

The Pentagon also announced that it plans to reduce its civilian workforce by at least 5%.

Several US military officials were forced out.

In February, the American president notably dismissed, without giving any explanation, Chief of Staff Charles "CQ" Brown.

Also dismissed were the head of the US Navy, the head of the US Coast Guard, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force and several high-ranking military lawyers.