In his campaign for a second term, President Trump promised that he would get and keep the United States out of wars. In his inaugural address, he said he wanted to leave a legacy of “unification.” And after just under eight months in office, he is openly campaigning for a Nobel Peace Prize.
But this week, Mr. Trump sent a conflicting message. The “President of Peace,” as the White House has branded him, signed an executive order to establish a “Department of War.”
The change speaks to the contradictions in Mr. Trump’s presidency and the image he projects to the world, on the one hand seeking the ultimate prize for peace while at the same time promoting a far more aggressive use of U.S. military might.
He even suggested in a social media post on Saturday morning that he would go to “war” with a city in his own country where he has threatened an immigration crackdown. He said Chicago was “about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” along with three helicopter emojis.
Asked on Friday about how he squared his Department of War with his push for peace, Mr. Trump did not see a contradiction.
“I think I’ve gotten peace because of the fact that we’re strong,” he said. (Mr. Trump claims to have solved at least seven wars, a statement that requires context.)
Mr. Trump said he had revived a name used for the nation’s original defense agency until just after World War II because it better reflected the country’s fighting capabilities and sent a message of “victory” to both allies and enemies.
Mr. Trump, who was granted five deferments from being drafted to fight in Vietnam, including for a diagnosis of bone spurs, said that the country had “never fought to win” a war after World War II, when Congress renamed the Department of War the Department of Defense.
Critics say the rebranding exposes the hypocrisy behind Mr. Trump’s promises to bring peace.
“He ran as the supposed antiwar candidate, but has proved to be just the opposite,” said Matt Duss, executive vice president at the liberal Center for International Policy. “This stunt underscores that Trump is more interested in belligerent chest-thumping than genuine peacemaking — with dangerous consequences for American security, global standing and the safety of our armed services.”
Only Congress can change department names, so the title is ceremonial until it is codified into law. Mr. Trump had ordered the federal government to recognize it as a “secondary” name, in addition to having “secretary of war” serve as a “secondary title” to secretary of defense.
The measure has drawn the support of some Republicans in Congress. Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma and member of the Armed Services Committee, praised Mr. Trump in a social media post for “ENDING wars, not starting them,” and said that the renaming “reflects the seriousness of this national security mission, and a return to our military history.”
Col. Larry Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, said that the name change underscored the shift in the military’s approach from defensive to offensive. The new posture could be seen in the deadly strike on a boat that U.S. officials said was carrying Venezuelan drug smugglers. In that operation, Mr. Trump used the military in a way that had no clear legal precedent or basis, according to experts in the laws of war and executive power.
Colonel Wilkerson said the timing of the name change was especially conspicuous after the leaders of China, Russia, India and North Korea met at a summit in China without the United States.
The United States, he said, was “pontificating about its power at a time when its power is visibly ebbing in front of everyone’s faces.”
The rebranding also comes at a moment when Mr. Trump has said he wants to eliminate wasteful spending in the government, which has already resulted in deep cuts, including at the Pentagon.
William D. Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, where he focuses on the arms industry and U.S. military budget, said that the rebranding would cost at least millions of dollars.
“It runs counter to this notion that they’re efficient, they’re focused on the warfighting, because this is largely a P.R. operation,” Mr. Hartung said.
“It’s chump change for the Pentagon budget,” he added, “but it’s chump change that could do something real somewhere else.”
Asked on Friday whether he had any concerns about how much the rebranding would cost, given that the Pentagon was cutting back costs, Mr. Trump said it wouldn’t be “the most expensive.”
“We know how to rebrand without having to go crazy,” he said, adding that it would mostly involve changing things like stationery. “We don’t have to re-carve a mountain or anything.”
Mr. Trump’s order directs the federal government to recognize the new name and title in “official correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts and nonstatutory documents within the executive branch.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has already begun transitioning his office and department with new signs.
Erica L. Green is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
The post Trump Sends Mixed Messages With His Newly Rebranded Department of War appeared first on New York Times.
