King Solomon is said to have written the popular and reliable verse in Ecclesiastes 1:9 - “There is nothing new under the sun.” Yet something does feel dangerously different and scary about America’s national security. One Lt General said he’s never seen a more chaotic security environment. And he served under seven presidents. He is Lt. General Richard (Dick) Newton.
He joined me recently to talk about what feels “new under the sun” - a world in which violence has ratcheted up. After this past weekend, it certainly feels the Jewish people are under greater threat. In Australia, a 50-yr-old father and his 24-yr-old son allegedly opened fire during a public Jewish holiday event at Bondi Beach, killing 15 Jewish people as they celebrated the start of Hanukkah. Australian police say it was a “terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State group.”
Other anti-semitic murders this year include a gunman who opened fire outside the Jewish museum in Washington D.C., killing two people back in May 2025. The suspect told police, “I did it for Palestine; I did it for Gaza.” In October 2025, a man drove a car into a crowd of people at a Jewish synagogue in Manchester and stabbed two of them to death. Police say the assailant pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. There’s also the attacks on college campuses, which have reached an all-time high, to say nothing of the slaughter on October 7.
My interview with Dick was last week so he didn’t comment on the Bondi massacre though he did say that 9/11 was the start of the global war on terror with an initial focus on Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. It was a Holy war that rational, reasonable, enlightenment-groomed Americans didn’t realize we were in. A war in which religion is used to justify violence and reward those who carry it out.
Now global terror has evolved into a more decentralized threat coming from radicalized individuals to other groups such as ISIS and Hamas, as well as transnational criminal organizations, such as the narco-terrorists. Dick and I discuss both the Hamas-Israel war and the recent strikes on Venezuela narco-boats.
While the Islamic ideology seems like the biggest threat facing the country, America’s two-decade focus on fighting global terror created the conditions for China to emerge as a global economic, military and technological powerhouse. To this end, Dick sees China as America’s greatest enemy and danger. You can listen to Dick’s views on China around 6:30 into the interview.
Bringing God back into the military
We also spent a significant amount of time discussing how the military became burdened with wokeness. He recalls that around the time President Obama came into office, having traditional religious values became a taboo subject from the top down. “You couldn’t say our savior Jesus Christ. That was frowned upon,” he recalled. It’s not surprising given Obama’s push for diversity, equity and inclusion - which became a religion because of its dogmatic principles to pursue equity as the greatest moral good. In 2010, Obama signed into law the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act,” which allowed gay people to serve openly in the military. In 2013, Obama ended the ban on women in combat roles. Then in 2016, under Obama, the Department of Defense issued policies that allowed transgender people to serve openly and receive treatment.
These policies prioritized social justice over military preparedness, leading to a much weaker defense force.
The military’s mission is to “fight the nation’s wars… not be bogged down by these cultural corners of society,” said Dick. “This [the woke policies] cut away at our readiness and ability to recruit and retain.”
As the world knows, when President Donald Trump came into office and Pete Hegseth became Secretary of War, the entire defense department went through a radical change for the better. In September 2025, the Secretary made that known in a mandatory meeting held at Quantico that was widely broadcast.
While Dick and I agree on many of the policies to end DEI in the military, we disagreed on the meeting of the 800 U.S. generals and admirals who went to that meeting which focused on restoring spiritual readiness and a “warrior ethos.” I found it to convey a strong show of force to the world. To remind everyone that the American military was on the same page and laser focused on one thing only: To win wars and to do so by honoring God. The timing was around two weeks before the Gaza Peace Summit, which gathered 20 world leaders in Egypt, some of whom were fierce rivals. What could possibly have driven them there besides a sense of panic that God-fearing men were running the US military. (For those, unfamiliar or confused with the term God-fearing, it simply means to have reverence and respect for Him. It is to see with moral clarity that we are under God’s authority, and with that comes His protection.)
It wasn’t a coincidence in my view. Dick had a different observation and wasn’t keen on the Quantico meeting, but I may have changed his mind.
To watch Dick’s ongoing commentary, you can watch him on NewsNation, where he is a senior national security contributor. You can also learn more about him at Thayer Leadership, where he advises and teaches on topics such as leadership, strategic planning and crisis management.
Interview coverage:
1:43 - A family of military servicemen.
6:03 - The current chaotic environment and America’s threats.
11:09 - Striking the alleged narco-boats from Venezuela and the double-tap controversy.
17:34 - Given the strong defense of these strikes, the war crime allegations are weak.
21:52 - The fallout from the “seditious six” calling for 1.3 million to not follow unlawful orders.
24:45 - Will the six lawmakers be held accountable?
26:25 - Secretary of War Hegseth - defining the War department as the Woke department. When did it start becoming woke?
32:30 - How the military changed in terms of its readiness because of the woke policies.
37:57 - The pullout in Afghanistan was a debacle of leadership.
40:37-41:37 – fast forward due to technical difficulty.
42:11 - Hegseth getting the 800 generals and military men together - a show of military force.
46:41 - Underscoring military readiness.
51:30 - Under President Trump one of greatest successes diplomatically is standing firmly with Israel.
56:00 - No resolution in sight between Russia/Ukraine.
1:02:31 - Resolution in the past has come through effective deterrence by having strong military capability, economic power and political will.
1:07 - AI and defense; heroes and miracles can only happen if a human stays in the loop.
1:13 - The striking parallels between AI and nuclear when it comes to dual-use purposes.
1:17 - Favorite family Christmas traditions and favorite war movies.
