President Donald Trump is continuing to tackle the big priorities for America—by rebranding the Department of Defense the “Department of War.”
The change comes as the National Guard troops the president deployed to fight crime in Washington, D.C. have become overqualified trash collectors for the nation’s capital.
The White House confirmed to the Daily Beast on Thursday that the departmental name change was imminent. It is expected to be unveiled on Friday, complete with new signage at the Pentagon.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted on X on Thursday “DEPARTMENT OF WAR.”
A White House fact sheet, seen by Fox News, says Trump’s looming executive order will also see Hegseth’s title changed to Secretary of War. The public affairs briefing room in the Pentagon will be rebranded the Pentagon War Annex.
The executive order will allow “Department of War” to be used as a secondary title for the Department of Defense, without getting Congressional approval for a permanent name change.
Hegseth insisted the change was happening because “words matter.”
The soon-to-be Secretary of War told Fox and Friends on Thursday, “We won World War I and World War II not with Department of Defense but Department of War. We are not just defense, we’re offense and we’re reestablishing the warrior ethos.”
He added, “We want warriors, we don’t want endless contingencies. Words and names matter.”
Trump first floated the idea of the name change last month. The Department of War was created in 1789, but renamed after World War II.
“As Department of War, we won everything. We won everything,” Trump stated last month. “I think we’re going to have to go back to that.”
The president also said the original name “had a stronger sound.”
While the Pentagon is worried about warriors, many of the National Guard troops deployed to Washington to help keep crime under control are now picking up litter.
“Guardsmen have cleaned more than 3.2 miles of roadways, collected more than 500 bags of trash, and disposed of three truckloads of plant waste,” the National Guard said in a statement that CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane posted to X on Monday.
Last week, the National Guard stated they had “collected approximately 40-plus trash bags with several pieces of debris, some old tires, and crates. Our goal here is really just to help the community by beautifying areas within the District.”
When Trump sent National Guard troops plus FBI and ICE agents into D.C. last month, he said their role was “to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the National Guard for comment.
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