Trump expresses interest in rolling back the clock to bring back the 'Department of War'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: MSNBC News

June 25, 2025, 12:57 PM EDT


Donald Trump and his team have been fixated in recent months on renaming things. From the Gulf of Mexico to the USNS Harvey Milk, from Veterans Day to the Persian Gulf, the president and his administration have made it painfully clear: They’re not satisfied with names and labels that much of the public finds familiar, and they’re eager to impose new ones.

Evidently, we can add the name of one of the nation’s oldest departments to the list. USA Today reported:

President Donald Trump suggested changing the name of Defense Department back to its pre-World War II moniker as the War Department, after the success in bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities. ‘You know it used to be called secretary of war,’ Trump told reporters June 25 at the conclusion of a NATO meeting in the Netherlands. ‘Maybe for a couple of weeks we’ll call it that because we feel like warriors.’

The Republican did not appear to be kidding. In fact, at his NATO press conference, the American president referred to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth as the “secretary of war” and reflected on the title that hasn’t existed in a few generations. Trump added, “ (I)t used to be ‘secretary of war’; then we became politically correct. ‘Secretary of defense,’ maybe we’ll have to start thinking about changing it.”

Read more: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-expresses-interest-rolling-back-clock-bring-back-department-war-rcna215029

[Lovie777]

1. shithole wants world war three.....................

he is pure evil.

[LudwigPastorius]

11. Why have "the nuclear" if we can't use it?

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/03/trump-asks-why-us-cant-use-nukes-msnbcs-joe-scarborough-reports.html

[bucolic_frolic]

2. "The Department of War officially became the Department of Defense on August 10, 1949."

says Google quick AI.

TSF is seriously ill. What's next, prohibiting all music except Swing and Jazz?

[Javaman]

7. Naaa, only the village people 24/7 nt

[Retrograde]

10. Swing and Jazz are too modern for him (n/t)

[msongs]

3. how is this news nt

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Because just like they unilaterally changed the name of the "United States Digital Service" (USDS)

to "DOGE", so too might they do the same with the Department of Defense, regardless of the laws that established the current name.

(P.S. my dad would have been 101 today and was a WWII vet and when he was serving, it WAS called "The Department of War" )

[Captain Zero]

4. So he's trolling us or threatening war?

I mean it's not like he feels he has to consult with Congress.

This war/warrior talk just sounds threatening in some veiled manner to me.

[Norrrm]

6. So tough and macho for Cadet Bone Spurs

[SoFlaBro]

8. I already thought that stupid Orange Motherfucker did that dumb-assed shit.

[Karasu]

9. ...Fucking why? Because it sounds cooler to fascist ears?

[LudwigPastorius]

12. He really wants to call it The Department of I Have a Dick Bigger Than Everyone Else.

...but, he can't figure out how to fit that lie on the Department Seal.

[Lionel Mandrake]

13. Yes, we used to have a War Dept.

We also had a Navy Dept. The two of them were merged after WW2 to become the Defense Dept. Of course "defense" is a euphemism for war. Renaming the DoD the War Dept. is actually not a bad idea, but it wouldn't be a return to the status quo ante bellum.