Trump signs order to rename Department of Defence as Department of War
Washington (AP): After months of campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize, President Donald Trump sent a sharply different message on Friday when he signed an executive order aimed at rebranding the Department of Defence as the Department of War.
Trump said the switch was intended to signal to the world that the United States was a force to be reckoned with, and he complained that the Department of Defence's name was “woke.”
“I think it sends a message of victory. I think it sends, really, a message of strength,” Trump said of the change as he authorised the Department of War as a secondary title for the Pentagon.
Congress has to formally authorise a new name, and several of Trump's closest supporters on Capitol Hill proposed legislation earlier Friday to codify the new name into law.
But already there were cosmetic shifts. The Pentagon's website went from “defence.gov” to “war.gov.” Signs were swapped around Hegseth's office while more than a dozen employees watched. Trump said there would be new stationery, too.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom Trump has begun referring to as the “secretary of war,” said during the signing ceremony that “we're going to go on offense, not just on defense,” using “maximum lethality” that won't be “politically correct.”
The attempted rebranding was another rhetorical salvo in Trump's efforts to reshape the US military and uproot what he has described as progressive ideology.
Bases have been renamed, transgender soldiers have been banned and websites have been scrubbed of posts honouring contributions by women and minorities to the armed forces.
He's also favoured aggressive — critics say illegal — military action despite his criticism of “endless wars” under other administrations. He frequently boasts about the stealth bomber strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, and he recently ordered the destruction of a boat that the US says was carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela.
The Republican president insisted that his tough talk didn't contradict his fixation on being recognised for diplomatic efforts, saying peace must be made from a position of strength. Trump has claimed credit for resolving conflicts between India and Pakistan; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Armenia and Azerbaijan, among others. (He's also expressed frustration that he hasn't brought the war between Russia and Ukraine to a conclusion as fast as he wanted.)
“I think I've gotten peace because of the fact that we're strong,” Trump said, echoing the “peace through strength” motto associated with President Ronald Reagan
When Trump finished his remarks on the military, he dismissed Hegseth and Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from the room.
“I'm going to let these people go back to the Department of War and figure out how to maintain peace,” Trump said.
Florida Republican Rep Greg Steube proposed legislation in the House to formally change the name of the department.
“From 1789 until the end of World War II, the United States military fought under the banner of the Department of War,” Steube, an Army veteran, said in a statement. “It is only fitting that we pay tribute to their eternal example and renowned commitment to lethality by restoring the name of the Department of War' to our Armed Forces.”
Sens Rick Scott, R-Fla, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, are introducing companion legislation in the Senate.
The Department of War was created in 1789, then renamed and reorganised through legislation signed by President Harry Truman in 1947, two years after the end of World War II.
The Department of Defence incorporated the Department of War, which oversaw the Army, plus the Department of the Navy and the newly created independent Air Force.
Hegseth complained that “we haven't won a major war since” the name was changed. Trump said, “We never fought to win.”
Trump and Hegseth have long talked about restoring the Department of War name.
In August, Trump told reporters that “everybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then we changed it to Department of Defence.”
When confronted with the possibility that making the name change would require an act of Congress, Trump told reporters that “we're just going to do it.”
“I'm sure Congress will go along,” he said, “if we need that.”
Trump and Hegseth have been on a name-changing spree at the Pentagon, sometimes by sidestepping legal requirements.
For example, they wanted to restore the names of nine military bases that once honoured Confederate leaders, which were changed in 2023 following a congressionally mandated review.
Because the original names were no longer allowed under law, Hegseth ordered the bases to be named after new people with similar names. For example, Fort Bragg now honours Army Pfc Roland L Bragg, a World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient from Maine, instead of Confederate Gen Braxton Bragg.
In the case of Fort A P Hill, named for Confederate Lt Gen Ambrose Powell Hill, the Trump administration was forced to choose three soldiers to make the renaming work.
The base now honours Union soldiers Pvt Bruce Anderson and 1st Sgt Robert A Pinn, who contributes the two initials, and Lt Col Edward Hill, whose last name completes the second half of the base name.
The move irked Republicans in Congress who, in July, moved to ban restoring any Confederate names in this year's defense authorisation bill.
Rep Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican who co-sponsored the earlier amendment to remove the Confederate names, said that “what this administration is doing, particularly this secretary of defence, is sticking his finger in the eye of Congress by going back and changing the names to the old names.”
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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses EC of ‘bias’, defends state guarantee schemes ahead of bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the EC of "double standards" and "bias" after it sought details on the state’s guarantee schemes in Davanagere and Bagalkot districts, where bypolls are scheduled for Thursday.
In a post on 'X' on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said the Election Commission of India had asked the Karnataka government for information on fund releases under five ongoing guarantee schemes in the constituencies going to polls.
The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, respectively.
The schemes are Gruha Jyothi, which provides 200 units of free electricity to every household; Gruha Lakshmi, offering Rs 2,000 to women heading families; and Anna Bhagya, supplying 10 kg of rice per month to each member of BPL families.
In addition, Yuva Nidhi grants Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders aged 18–25 for two years, while Shakti enables women to travel free of charge within Karnataka on government non-luxury buses.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the ECI had remained silent when similar cash transfer schemes were announced in Maharashtra and Bihar ahead of elections, calling the scrutiny of Karnataka’s schemes a "clear case of bias".
"In states like Maharashtra and Bihar, cash transfer schemes were announced or fast-tracked just before elections, directly benefiting voters. Yet the ECI remained silent. This is not neutrality—it is complicity," he said.
The CM accused the BJP and NDA governments of "a double standard", noting that when they act, the ECI "looks the other way", but when Karnataka fulfils its promises, it faces "intense scrutiny".
He added that targeting the state’s guarantee schemes is "not just political but anti-poor, anti-women, and anti-Karnataka."
Siddaramaiah clarified that these schemes were not launched in connection with the bypolls but are ongoing programmes implemented as part of the Congress government’s commitments from the 2023 Assembly elections.
Funds are transferred regularly to beneficiaries in a transparent and structured manner, he added.
"The guarantees are part of governance—a direct investment in human dignity, household stability, and economic participation, not inducement," he said.
He also accused the BJP of "hypocrisy", saying that while it criticises Karnataka’s schemes as "freebies", it rolls out similar programmes in states it governs.
"The Karnataka model has set a benchmark for the country. What is deeply concerning, however, is the ECI’s selective approach," Siddaramaiah added.
