“The Pentagon’s “General Squid Games” - 26 September 2025

Kia ora whānau. Ko Ivor Jones ahau, The Māori Green Lantern, kaitiaki exposing misinformation, white supremacy, racism, and neoliberalism from the far right.

America’s military is under assault - not from foreign enemies, but from within. A dangerous Christian nationalist is systematically purging the Pentagon to create a personal army for authoritarianism.

Here’s what’s happening that should terrify every Kiwi who values democracy: Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host turned Defense Secretary, has just ordered hundreds of America’s top military leaders to an emergency meeting at Quantico military base. Nobody knows why. Even the generals and admirals don’t know what’s coming. One official called it “the general squid games” - a reference to the Netflix show where people are eliminated one by one.

This isn’t normal. This is the stuff of military coups.

Background: The Christian Nationalist Fox News Host Who Seized the Pentagon

Pete Hegseth represents everything wrong with far-right Christian nationalism infiltrating positions of power. Before Trump handed him control of America’s military, Hegseth was a weekend Fox News host whose main qualifications were looking good on television and praising the brutal Crusades as a model for today. He literally has “Deus Vult” tattooed on his arm - a medieval battle cry meaning “God wills it” used by Christian warriors slaughtering Muslims.

This man now controls the most powerful military in human history.

Hegseth’s worldview is steeped in Christian nationalism through his connection to the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), a fundamentalist group that wants to remake America as a theocracy. They believe women should be subordinate, LGBTQ+ people should be criminalized, and democracy itself is a threat to God’s plan.

From a Te Ao Māori perspective, this mirrors the same colonial mentality that devastated Indigenous peoples worldwide. The belief that one group has divine authority to dominate others, to erase diversity, and to impose their values through force. It’s the same supremacist thinking that drove colonization of Aotearoa.

Timeline showing Pete Hegseth’s systematic military purge from confirmation to the Quantico meeting

A Systematic Military Purge Unlike Anything in American History

What Hegseth is doing goes far beyond normal leadership changes. Since taking office in January 2025, he has methodically eliminated military leaders who might oppose Trump’s authoritarian plans. The pattern is chilling:

February 21, 2025: The “Friday Night Massacre” - Hegseth fired General CQ Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with five other top officers including the first woman to lead the Navy, Admiral Lisa Franchetti.

April 4, 2025: Fired General Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency, in what sources called a “national security purge.”

May 6, 2025: Ordered a 20 percent reduction in four-star generals and admirals, plus an additional 10 percent cut across all general and flag officers.

August 22, 2025: Fired the head of the Pentagon’s intelligence agency after his assessment of military strikes didn’t match Trump’s propaganda claims.

Now comes the Quantico meeting - hundreds of military leaders summoned without explanation to what could be a mass firing event. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell would only say “The Secretary of War will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week” - note how they’re already calling him “Secretary of War,” not Defense, as Trump has rebranded the department.

Breakdown of military leadership positions eliminated during Hegseth’s purge

For Māori, this resonates with our understanding of colonial violence. The pattern of eliminating Indigenous leadership, installing loyal puppets, and using force to suppress resistance. Hegseth is applying the same playbook to America’s own military.

Analysis: The Mechanics of Military Dictatorship

Loyalty Over Competence

Hegseth has made clear that military leaders must be “woke-free” and completely loyal to Trump, not the Constitution. He’s specifically targeted officers who supported diversity programs, opposed war crimes, or showed any independence. As he told a podcast: “You need to fire a ton of generals. Any general or admiral involved in any of the DEI woke nonsense must go.”

This mirrors how authoritarian leaders throughout history have purged competent officers to install yes-men. As one military expert noted, “Political purges often leave a country vulnerable to both external threats and internal instability.”

Eliminating Legal Oversight

One of Hegseth’s most dangerous moves was firing the military’s top lawyers - the Judge Advocate Generals (JAGs) who ensure soldiers follow the law. This removes a critical check on military power and war crimes. Hegseth has long opposed accountability for war crimes, lobbying Trump to pardon convicted war criminals during his first term.

From a Māori perspective, this echoes the colonial dismissal of Indigenous law and tikanga. The colonizer always eliminates existing legal frameworks to impose their own brutal system without constraint.

Information Control and Paranoia

Hegseth has also been sharing classified military plans through unsecured Signal messaging apps, including details to his wife and personal lawyer. When Pentagon investigators found evidence he was sharing classified information, he ramped up his purges. This paranoid behavior - eliminating anyone who might expose wrongdoing - is classic authoritarian conduct.

Preparing for Domestic Deployment

The most terrifying aspect is what this purge is preparing for. Trump has repeatedly talked about using the military against “the enemy from within” - meaning American citizens who oppose him. Hegseth’s mission appears to be ensuring military leaders will say “yes” to deploying troops against protesters, political opponents, or anyone Trump deems disloyal.

This represents a fundamental break with American democracy, where the military has historically refused to be used against civilians. By eliminating principled officers and installing Christian nationalist loyalists, Hegseth is removing this safeguard.

Historical comparison of military purges showing scale and context of Hegseth’s ongoing Pentagon purge

Hidden Connections: The Christian Nationalist Network

The deeper story here involves the interconnected web of Christian nationalist organizations working to capture American institutions. Hegseth’s church affiliation with CREC connects him to a network that includes figures like Pastor Doug Wilson, who literally calls for “Christian towns” and believes in biblical law superseding democratic governance.

This movement has specific goals that align with Māori concepts of tino rangatiratanga - but in reverse. Where we seek self-determination and cultural sovereignty within a democratic framework, Christian nationalists seek to impose their religious authority over everyone else, eliminating diversity and forcing compliance with their interpretation of Christianity.

The timing of the Quantico meeting is also suspicious. It comes as Trump has been conducting broader purges across government agencies, firing 17 independent watchdogs and replacing career professionals with loyalists. The military purge is part of a coordinated assault on American democratic institutions.

The Neoliberal-Authoritarian Alliance

What we’re witnessing isn’t just Christian nationalism - it’s the merger of religious extremism with neoliberal capitalism. The same forces that have spent decades dismantling public services, attacking Indigenous rights, and concentrating wealth now want to use military force to maintain their power.

For Māori, this connects to our understanding of capitalism as inherently colonial. The same system that stole our land and suppressed our culture is now turning America into an authoritarian state to protect corporate interests.

Pete Hegseth as authoritarian Defense Secretary at Pentagon

Implications: Threat to Global Democracy

The implications extend far beyond America. When the world’s most powerful military falls under authoritarian control, every democracy becomes vulnerable. New Zealand has long relied on American security guarantees and intelligence sharing. What happens when those relationships serve an authoritarian agenda rather than democratic values?

We’ve already seen concerning signs. Trump’s approach to allies has been transactional and hostile to multilateralism. An authoritarian America with a purged, loyalist military could abandon commitments to democracy promotion and human rights, instead supporting fellow authoritarians.

For Māori specifically, this represents a threat to Indigenous rights movements worldwide. American soft power has sometimes supported Indigenous self-determination (though inconsistently). An authoritarian America would likely oppose Indigenous sovereignty as a threat to state control.

The economic implications are also severe. Democratic institutions underpin international trade and cooperation. Authoritarian capture of American military power could destabilize global markets and international law.

Regional Security Concerns

In the Pacific, where China’s authoritarian expansion already threatens democratic values, an authoritarian America could either compete destructively with Beijing or collaborate in suppressing democracy. Either scenario would be devastating for smaller Pacific nations and Indigenous communities.

From our Pacific perspective as tangata whenua, we understand how great powers can devastate smaller communities. The prospect of two authoritarian superpowers competing for influence in our region is terrifying.

Military leaders facing intimidation under authoritarian purge

Māori Values and Resistance

This crisis connects deeply to Māori values and our historical experience with colonization. The same patterns of cultural suppression, institutional capture, and violent enforcement are playing out in America today.

Whakatōhea - Collective Responsibility

As tangata whenua, we understand our responsibility to speak out against injustice wherever it occurs. The attack on American democracy affects all Indigenous peoples and democratic societies globally.

Manaakitanga - Care for Others

Our value of caring for others extends to supporting those under threat. American military families, diverse communities, and democratic institutions need international solidarity.

Tino Rangatiratanga - Self-Determination

The Christian nationalist vision directly opposes Indigenous self-determination. Their goal of religious control over secular institutions mirrors colonial attempts to suppress tikanga Māori and impose Christian dominance.

Kotahitanga - Unity

We must unite with democratic forces worldwide to resist authoritarianism. This isn’t about American politics - it’s about defending human dignity and democratic values everywhere.

Christian nationalist imagery representing threat to democracy

The Moment of Truth

The Māori Green Lantern Fighting Misinformation And Disinformation From The Far Right

The Quantico meeting represents a potential turning point toward military dictatorship in America. When hundreds of generals and admirals are summoned without explanation by a Christian nationalist who’s already purged dozens of officers, we must take this threat seriously.

For everyday Kiwis, this matters because American military authoritarianism would destabilize the entire global system that has supported peace and prosperity since World War II. When the world’s most powerful military serves authoritarian rather than democratic goals, no one is safe.

The path forward requires international pressure, solidarity with American democratic forces, and preparation for a world where we can’t rely on American protection of democratic values. We must strengthen our own institutions, deepen relationships with other democracies, and support Indigenous rights movements globally.

Most importantly, we must recognize the patterns. What’s happening in America today echoes the colonial violence that devastated Indigenous peoples worldwide. The same supremacist mindset that justified stealing our land and suppressing our culture now seeks to capture America’s military for authoritarian ends.

We’ve seen this before. We survived it before. And we’ll resist it again - here and everywhere it appears.

Kia kaha, whānau. Stay strong, family.

Ka mihi nui.

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