WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will speak at a hastily called meeting of top military leaders on Tuesday, according to a White House official.
Hundreds of generals and admirals — senior commanders of the one-star rank or higher and their top advisers — have been summoned by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from all over the world to the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, with little notice.
The White House official was not authorized to discuss the president's plans before a public announcement about his attendance and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump told NBC News in an interview Sunday that they would be “talking about how well we're doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things.”
News about the meeting broke Thursday, and no reason was initially provided for the unusual gathering. Trump didn’t seem to know about it when first asked by reporters during an Oval Office appearance.
“I'll be there if they want me, but why is it such a big deal?” Trump said.
The official said the president's participation was not part of the original plan for the meeting but that he decided that he wanted to go.
Trump's participation in the meeting raises the likelihood of a politicized event in front of a nonpartisan audience of military leaders. For example, he delivered campaign-style remarks to uniformed personnel at Fort Bragg in North Carolina in June, attacking his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
The Republican president is also expanding his use of the military in American cities, arguing that it’s necessary to fight crime in places where Democratic leaders are failing to ensure public safety.
The National Guard continues to patrol in the District of Columbia, and a smaller deployment is expected in Memphis, Tennessee. On Saturday, Trump said he would also send troops to Portland, Oregon, to protect against “domestic terrorists.”
Over the objections of local and state officials, Trump previously sent the National Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles, where there were protests against immigration raids.
The Pentagon’s top spokesman has previously confirmed that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week.”
Across the military, there are 800 generals and admirals of all ranks. Many command thousands of service members and are stationed across the world in more than a dozen countries and time zones.
The Washington Post first reported on Trump's plans to attend the upcoming meeting.
FILE - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a ceremony at the Pentagon to commemorate the 24rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Sept. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives at the White House, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A former Alaska Airlines pilot won't serve prison time for trying to cut the engines of a flight in 2023, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio in Portland, Oregon, sentenced Joseph Emerson to time served and three years' supervised release, ending a case that drew attention to the need for cockpit safety and more mental health support for pilots.
Federal prosecutors wanted a year in prison, while his attorneys sought probation.
“Pilots are not perfect. They are human,” Baggio said. “They are people and all people need help sometimes.”
Emerson hugged his attorneys and tearfully embraced his wife after he was sentenced.
Emerson was subdued by the flight crew after trying to cut the engines of a Horizon Air flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2023, while riding off-duty in the cockpit. The plane was diverted and landed in Portland with more than 80 people.
Emerson told police he was despondent over a friend’s recent death, had taken psychedelic mushrooms about two days earlier, and hadn’t slept in over 40 hours. He has said he believed he was dreaming and was trying to wake up by grabbing two red handles that would have activated the fire suppression system and cut fuel to the engines.
He spent 46 days in jail and was released pending trial in December 2023, with requirements that he undergo mental health services, stay off drugs and alcohol, and keep away from aircraft.
Attorney Ethan Levi described his client's actions as “a product of untreated alcohol use disorder.” Emerson had been drinking and accepted mushrooms “because of his lower inhibitions,” Levi said.
Emerson went to treatment after jail and has been sober since, he added.
Baggio said the case is a cautionary tale. Before she sentenced him, Emerson said he regretted the harm he caused.
“I’m not a victim. I am here as a direct result of my actions,” he told the court. “I can tell you that this very tragic event has forced me to grow as an individual.”
Emerson’s wife, Sarah Stretch, was among those who spoke on his behalf at the hearing, saying she was proud of how he's grown.
“I am so sorry for those that it’s impacted as much as it has," she said.
One of the pilots of the 2023 Horizon Air flight, Alan Koziol, said he didn't think Emerson was acting with malice and that he seemed “more like a trapped animal than a man in control of his faculties.” Koziol said that while pilots bear “immense responsibility,” he also wanted to see the aviation industry become more open to allowing pilots to seek mental health care.
Lyle Prouse, sentenced to 16 months in prison for flying an airliner under the influence of alcohol in 1990, told the judge via videoconference that Emerson was “solidly engaged" in recovering. Prouse said he got sober and was eventually reinstated by the airline and retired as a 747 captain. He was pardoned by then-President Bill Clinton.
“I know Joe like nobody else in this courtroom knows Joe on that level,” he said.
Geoffrey Barrow, assistant U.S. attorney in the district of Oregon, said Emerson's actions were serious and that the crew “saved the day by intervening."
“There were 84 people on that plane who could have lost their lives," he said.
Alison Snyder told the court via phone that it was a traumatic experience for her and her husband as passengers.
“Because of Joseph Emerson's actions that day, we will never feel as safe flying as we once did," she said.
Emerson, of Pleasant Hill, California, had pleaded guilty or no-contest to all charges in September as part of agreements with prosecutors.
He was charged in federal court with interfering with a flight crew. A state indictment in Oregon separately charged him with 83 counts of endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft.
A state court sentenced him to 50 days in jail, with credit for time served, plus five years of probation, 664 hours of community service — half of which he can serve at his own pilot health nonprofit — and over $60,000 in restitution, nearly all of it to Alaska Air Group. His sentence included rules over drugs, alcohol and mental health treatment, as well as avoiding aircraft.
His attorneys argued before federal sentencing that the “robust” state prosecution “resulted in substantial punishment.”
Emerson told a state court in September he was grateful the crew restrained him. He said being forced to confront his mental health and alcohol dependence was the greatest gift he ever received.
Mike Tacconi, left, and Carmen Loeffler, right, friends of former Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph Emerson, speak in support of Emerson following his sentencing at the U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore., Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Molly J. Smith)
Former Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph Emerson, center, walks into U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore., Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Molly J. Smith)
Former Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph Emerson, center, walks into U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore., Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Molly J. Smith)
FILE - Joseph David Emerson, back, appears in Multnomah County Circuit Court for an indictment hearing in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 7, 2023. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP, Pool, File)
