President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Thursday downplayed reports that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. military generals and admirals to assemble next week at a Marine Corps base in Virginia.

Hegseth's order applies to all senior officers with the rank of brigadier general or higher, as well as their Navy equivalents, serving in command positions worldwide. Their top enlisted advisers are also included, The Washington Post reported. No reason was given for the gathering.

"I'll be there if they want me, but why is that such a big deal?" Trump said in the Oval Office after signing an executive order declaring that a proposed agreement to bring TikTok under U.S. ownership addresses key security concerns. He also signed a memorandum implementing the death penalty in Washington, D.C., for "all appropriate cases."

"The fact that we're getting along with the generals and admirals?" Trump said. "Remember, I'm the president of peace. It's good to get along. You act like this is a bad thing. Isn't it nice that people are coming from all over the world to be with us?"

The Post reported that none of the officials it interviewed could recall a Pentagon chief ordering so many generals and admirals to assemble in this way. Several said the move raised security concerns. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed to the Post that Hegseth "will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week" but offered no further details.

"It's not particularly unusual that generals who report to the Secretary of War and then to the president of the United States are coming to speak with the secretary of war," Vance said. "It's actually not unusual at all, and I think it's odd that you guys have made it into such a big story."

"Is it a big story?" Trump said.

"I don't think it is, sir," Vance said.

"But isn't it a good story?" Trump said. "I mean, we're respected from all over the world as a military force. … I think it's great when generals and top people want to come to the United States to be with our now-called Secretary of War."

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