Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recently made headlines when he ordered hundreds of senior military officers to report for a meeting at a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week.

President Donald Trump was asked about the event on Thursday, leading to an exchange that one reporter characterized as Trump overruling Vice President J.D. Vance. 

Trump on Hegseth's planned meeting: "Why is it such a big deal?"

That was how Newsweek contributor Kate Plummer portrayed remarks that the president made while speaking with journalists in the Oval Office.

The interaction began when a reporter raised Hegseth's planned meeting, to which Trump responded by saying, "I love it. I think it's great."

.@POTUS: "Why is that such a big deal?... Remember, I'm the President of peace."@VP: "It's not particularly unusual that Generals who report to @SecWar... are coming to speak with the Secretary of War... I think it's odd that you guys have made it into such a big story." https://t.co/hC95mop4MC pic.twitter.com/KmLt3pq9R6

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 25, 2025

"Why is that such a big deal?" the president asked. "He's...the fact that we're getting along with the generals and admirals from...remember, I'm the president of peace."

Vance: Meeting is "not unusual at all"

Vance quickly spoke up, stating, "It's not particularly unusual that generals who report to the secretary of war and into the President of the United States are coming to speak with the secretary of war.

"It's actually not unusual at all and I think it's odd that you guys have made it into such a big story," the vice president asserted.

Then asked Vance, "Is it a big story?" to which the vice president replied, "I don't think it is sir." Trump subsequently responded by asking, "No, but isn't it a good story?"

While Plummer portrayed Trump's words as being a clash with Vance, video footage shows that he was directing his questions to media representatives rather than the vice president.

Analyst suggests possible reasons for meeting

Mark F. Cancian is a global analyst who formerly served as a Marine Corps colonel, and he told Newsweek that there is "lots of speculation about what the meeting will concern."

"The flag and general officers are bringing their senior enlisted person, so it's unlikely that this will be some purge of general officers," Cancian opined.

"One possibility is a discussion of the National Defense Strategy, which the secretary is reportedly about to publish," he suggested.

"It's also possible that there will be consolidations of commands, for example combining European command and Africa command," the former officer went on to add.