Opinion: Renaming the Pentagon is dangerous

Donald Trump (left) and Secretary Hegseth (right) Image Credit: Kevin Dietsch, via USA Today

President Trump signed an executive order on Friday to rename the United States Department of Defense, returning it to its original title, the Department of War.

President Trump said that he wants this measure to reflect a new tone for America’s armed forces:

“It didn't sound good, Defense. What are we Defense? Why are we Defense? So it used to be called the Department of War, … it had a stronger sound. And as you know, we won World War I. We won World War II. We won everything."

"… and then we decided to go woke and we changed the name to Department of Defense, so, we’re going Department of War.” -President Trump

The Secretary of War in the United States was one of the first cabinet positions that existed in the United States, beginning as one of the first four. George Washington's first presidential cabinet consisted of the Secretary of State (Thomas Jefferson), the Secretary of the Treasury (Alexander Hamilton), the Attorney General (Edmund Randolph) and the Secretary of War (Henry Knox).

The War Department was renamed to the Department of Defense in 1949, four years after the end of World War II, but now, Secretary Hegseth believes it’s time to adopt a more aggressive stance:

“It’s restoring the warrior ethos, restoring victory and clarity as an end state.” -Secretary Hegseth

Placards on offices and signs on walls are being removed and replaced to reflect the change. However, the name change can only be considered an unofficial alternate title, as Congress would need to vote to officially change the name to Department of War. At the moment, every one of these changes reflects the Department of Defense as a secondary title. However, much like the Gulf of America, when the White House decides to change a name, everyone else will soon be following suit.

This renaming has drawn a lot of controversy from many groups. Proponents of the move say that it is time that the United States project a stronger face on the rest of the world, promoting its image and legacy as the world's mightiest military. However, many feel that this serves as foreshadowing to dangerous political maneuvers yet to come.

This name change comes in the wake of Donald Trump sending in the National Guard into Washington D.C. to combat crime rates. However, many statistics have shown that crime in D.C. was actually trending down before he sent the soldiers in, as this graphic from CBS shows:

There is a lot of concern in the country right now that Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard acts as Trump implementing his own form of martial law. Trump has also threatened to send the National Guard to other democrat-run cities, particularly Chicago.

Post from Donald Trump's Truth Social account

In a social media post, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of him superimposed over the face of a character played by Robert Duvall in the Francis Ford Coppola film Apocalypse Now, with the image of helicopters flying over a burning Chicago skyline.

That post references a film made to criticize violence that the American military has committed. But it would appear that the president has instead interpreted the film, and this scene in particular, as a projection of American strength and power. With this imagery on the context of his recent actions, the president is sending a message to Americans that it is perfectly acceptable to see the president send soldiers on United States soil to establish his dominance over a city run by a politician that he disagrees with.

Every day, more and more of the president's rhetoric sends the message that he is itching for conflict. Whether it was his military parade for the army (something that otherwise might be brushed off as justifiable considering that it was their 250th Anniversary) or his rhetoric insisting that the United States should take control of Gaza, the president is eager to use America's military. This contradicts one of the president's favorite campaign lines, where he reminds the nation that during his administration, he never started a war. While this is true, the president did continue international military operations during his administration, most notably, in the drone strike against Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020. Saying he didn't start war but then renaming a department to reflect the "warrior ethos" raises some eyebrows.

Renaming the Department of Defense sends an international message that the nation is seeking to set the stage for international military aggression. When the United States is not currently engaged in open war, we should not be trying to provoke one with a name change.