Awkward moment Trump calls out audience with scathing message for not applauding him

A crowd was left bewildered when Donald Trump called out the audience for not applauding him in his speech,

On Tuesday (September 30), the president dropped his big vision in a speech to military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.

While Trump has already deployed the National Guard to take over local law enforcement in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, it's clear the POTUS is centring the military in his wider plans for the nation.

Amongst some of the wildest parts of his speech, he said the US is at war internally and at the border with immigration.

"It's a war from within. Controlling the physical territory of our border is essential to national security. We can't let these people in," he said in part.

Trump also pointed the finger at Russia and China with a bleak warning, stating that the US is more than two decades ahead of both in its nuclear capabilities.

However, his speech clearly went down like a lead balloon as the president noticed himself that the room was painstakingly quiet.

"I've never walked into a room so silent before. This is very... Don't laugh, don't laugh," he said to stony silence.

"You're not allowed to do that...You know what, just have a good time. And if you want to applaud, you applaud. And if you want to do anything you want, you can do anything you want."

Trump then added: "If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room, 'cos there goes your rank, there goes your future."

The apparent joke did earn him a few laughs before he continued: "You just feel nice and loose, okay? Because we're all on the same team."

The awkward moment did not go amiss on Twitter, though, as dozens raced to the social media platform to cringe at the speech while others were horrified by Trump's thinly veiled 'joke' to strip military personnel of their rank for failing to applaud him.

Donald Trump's speech in Virginia was met with silence (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

"And there it is!," wrote one. "'Do as I ask or suffer!'

"These are the words of a dictator, not a president. This is his entire philosophy with his cabinet. Puppets, yes men, servants, worshipers and MAGA sheep. This is not leadership. This is authoritarian rule. Wake up America."

A second chimed: "The fact they didn't applaud this a**hole gives me hope for our country. They will not follow unlawful orders."

"Really not doing his best to shake those accusations of fascism," read a third.

Elsewhere in Trump's speech, he discussed how he'd sent 1,700 National Guard troops to areas across the country under the objective of assisting ICE and the Department of Homeland Security with ramped-up immigration raids.

He also took issue with Democrat-led cities, slamming them as 'very unsafe places' that his administration, with the help of the military, are 'going to straighten out one by one.'