When U.S. President Donald Trump told hundreds of generals and admirals assembled at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Sept. 30 that “the enemy within” should be a focus for them and that the U.S. “should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” he wasn’t speaking off the cuff. Trump was referring to a policy discussion on increasing use of the military in domestic law enforcement since at least March, involving both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. At the center of that drive is Philip Hegseth, the younger brother of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Philip Hegseth serves as a senior advisor to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and liaison to the Defense Department with an office in the E-ring of the Pentagon, reportedly just a few doors down from his brother’s office.
On Aug. 2, The New Republic published the text of a memo by Philip Hegseth, setting the agenda for a planned DHS-DOD meeting. “This meeting is a principal level discussion to share needs, priorities and expectations to enhance operational coordination between DHS and DOD in defense of the homeland,” Philip Hegseth wrote. “100% success will be achieved by fostering new ideas for how the two departments can better plan for national security and illegal immigration.” Among the “positive outcomes” expected for the meeting was this: “The U.S. military leadership (the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and NORTHCOM) need to feel—for the first time—the urgency of the homeland defense mission. They need to understand the threat, what’s at stake, and the political importance the administration has placed on this issue.” A second expected outcome was to be “A verbal agreement to find places where DOD can detail personnel within ICE and CBP (and vice-versa) to increase information sharing, and specifically support nationwide operational planning capabilities.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command, were both on the attendance list, along with Secretary Pete Hegseth and three of his advisors.
