Donald Trump walked into Quantico expecting applause and adoration. What he got instead was a room full of silent, stone-faced military leaders—and according to retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, it threw him off completely.
Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Hertling said the former president’s visit to the Marine Corps base in Virginia—alongside newly appointed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—didn’t land the way Trump had hoped.
“He gave so many things to talk about from that speech,” Hertling said, calling it “meandering” and pointing out two particularly troubling points: “the ‘war from within,’ as you just mentioned, and putting soldiers on American streets to train how to react to different enemies from within.”
But it wasn’t just the content. It was the reaction—or the lack of one.
“President Trump thrives on applause and cheering and interactions with an audience,” Hertling said. “And when he didn’t get that and instead got quiet professionalism from the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in the audience, that rattled him from the very beginning.”
It’s a dynamic Trump rarely faces. On the campaign trail, he’s met with chants, cheering, and standing ovations. At Quantico, the military leadership gave him nothing but silence.
That silence wasn’t defiance, Hertling clarified. It was discipline.
“That silence wasn’t disrespect,” he said. “It was restraint and discipline and adherence to the oath of office.”
For many watching closely, it was a quiet but powerful statement.
“Yesterday was, to me, a collective reminder of our professional culture that we have in the military that transcends politics,” Hertling added. “It was on full display, and it was interesting to watch from both sides of the audience.”
Trump, no doubt, expected a moment of dominance. Instead, he got a roomful of military professionals who weren’t there to play to the crowd—and certainly not to clap on cue. And that, as Hertling put it bluntly: “Rattled him.”
Catch Hertling’s full remarks in the MSNBC clip below:
