California Governor Gavin Newsom went after President Donald Trump on Tuesday after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a speech about overweight military members. Hegseth told top military leaders at Quantico, Virginia that he did not want to see “fat generals and admirals” in the Pentagon anymore or overweight troops in combat groups. The defense secretary said that all service members would need to take physical fitness tests and meet height and weight rules twice a year.
Newsom hit back by posting an unflattering photo of Trump from a campaign stop at McDonald’s in October 2024 on social media platform X. The image showed the president taking off his jacket, which revealed a large stomach. “I guess the Commander in Chief needs to go!” Newsom wrote, pointing out the clear difference between Hegseth’s fitness rules and Trump’s own body shape.
The governor’s press office then posted an AI-generated image on X showing Trump eating McDonald’s Big Mac cheeseburgers while drones brought more bags of fast food to him. The post said in all capital letters, “IT’S COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE TO SEE A FAT COMMANDER IN CHIEF IN THE HALLS OF THE WHITE HOUSE!” The posts quickly got tens of thousands of likes as social media users pointed out how strange Hegseth’s comments were given Trump’s well-known love of fast food.
Hegseth’s comments start wider talk about military rules
During his speech at Quantico, Hegseth talked about his plan for bringing the military back to what he called a “warrior ethos.” The 45-year-old former Fox News host said that it was tiring to look at combat groups and see fat troops. “It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are,” he said. Hegseth also said that combat roles would need to meet the “highest male standard only” of their service’s physical fitness test.
The defense secretary also said there would be no more beard waivers and long hair, saying “No more beardos.” Critics pointed out that shaving waivers are used more by Black troops because of how their facial hair grows. Hegseth told the gathered military leaders that standards must be “uniform, gender-neutral, and high” or they are just suggestions that get soldiers killed.
Trump has long been known for loving fast food, especially McDonald’s. Reports have shown him ordering McDonald’s, stadium hot dogs, Domino’s pizza, and Diet Coke to his box at college football games. News cameras once caught Trump staffers carrying six large bags of McDonald’s into the Manhattan courthouse during his trial. When Trump was booked into Fulton County Jail in 2023, he said his height was 6 feet 3 inches and his weight was 215 pounds. Critics said these numbers matched Muhammad Ali in his prime and looked like they were made up to sound better.
The Department of Defense hit back at Newsom’s criticism by saying that the California governor should spend less time going after Hegseth and more time fixing problems in his own state. The unusual gathering of top military commanders from around the world made some military officials worry about having so many key leaders in one place at the same time.
Published: Oct 1, 2025 04:45 pm