By Snigdha Chakravarti
Confusion, shock, and cheer swept across the country on Friday, September 5th as President Donald Trump released an executive order renaming the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a title that hasn’t been used in nearly seventy-five years. The President’s move has sparked a deep internal division in the US: between concerns over what this change could bring and hopes in renewing America’s glory,
Contexually, the Department of Defense’s title has a storied history. The Department of Defense’s original name was the Department of War, which was established in 1789 along with a separate Department of Navy. Over a century later, the National Security Act of 1947 was passed by then-president Harry Truman to merge the Department of War, Department of Navy, and a newly created air force into the National Military Establishment (NME). Two years later, NME was renamed as the Department of Defense, since the acronym NME was unintentionally pronounced as “enemy.” Since then, the name Department of Defense has remained unchanged, but the president’s new order may change this.
Behind the new order lies the President’s intent to greatly emphasize the US’s military capabilities, believing that the country “never fought to win” after World War II, when the title “Department of Defense” first came to be. In fact, the president believes that the title “Department of War” could mark a change in this trend, paving a way for strengthening America’s resolve militarily and improving international security. However, the reversal of this title to its original name (Department of War) is not official yet since legally, only Congress can change the name. The President, though, expressed how he would like to use the title as a “secondary” name of the Department of Defense and create a role for a “secretary of war” as a secondary role to the secretary of defense.
The President’s assertive orders have received a mixture of reactions, being both applauded by some and criticized by others. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, for example, has commended Trump for “ENDING wars, not starting them,” displaying how the new title “reflects the seriousness of this national security mission, and a return to our military history.” Similarly, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has supported the President’s move by changing the signs on his office and department to “Secretary of War” and “Department of War,” respectively. In fact, Hegseth sees this move as “restoring” rather than “renaming” since the department is “going to raise up warriors, not just defenders.”
On the contrary, according to Col. Larry Wikerson, chief of staff to former secretary of state Colin L. Powell, the change of the department’s name signals the US government “pontificating about its power at a time when its power was visibly ebbing in front of everyone’s faces.” Wikerson’s statement suggests that despite the US trying to “show-off” its power, its power might actually be diminishing. In the context of North Korea, China, Russia, and India having a summit without the US, the irony behind the US’s intention to increase its power is especially evident. Another ironic part of the rebranding of the department is the high cost of this action; in fact, to rename 9 army bases would cost $3.9 million, but this directly contradicts Trump’s constant emphasis on cutting wasteful spending. Trump, however, said it wouldn’t be “the most expensive” since the administration didn’t “have to re-carve a mountain or anything.” To add on to the ironic layers of rebranding the department’s name, the President claims to be a peacemaker by boasting the strength of the US army. However, his desire to emphasize the US army’s strength is against his view that such military engagements are a waste; in fact, in his second presidency alone, military engagements including the bombing of Iran, supporting weapon shipments to Israel, and the striking of a Venezuelan boat have been approved, all of which directly contradict the President’s earlier statements to mitigate US involvement in such conflicts.
The change of the Department of Defense to the Department of War is yet to be determined, but the executive order has already left an impact on Americans’ understanding of their country’s role in maintaining world power while promoting peace. Some are on opposite ends of the spectrum, either supporting or opposing the move, while many are left in the middle, questioning what this change may bring about.