By Enyichukwu Enemanna
US President, Donald Trump is changing the name of the Department of Defence to the Department of War, the White House announced Thursday, a rebranding it says will project a more powerful image.
According to a White House document, while the department’s official name is set in law, Trump in an executive order is authorizing use of the new label as a “secondary title” by his administration.
Defence officials are permitted to use “secondary titles such as ‘Secretary of War,’…in official correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts, and non-statutory documents within the executive branch,” according to the document.
Trump, 79 who returned to power in January had last month claimed the Defence Department’s title was too “defensive.”
The Department of War “was the name when we won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything,” he told reporters on August 25.
According to the White House document, the name change “conveys a stronger message of readiness and resolve.”
Established in the early days of US independence, the Department of War historically oversaw American land forces.
A government reorganization after World War II brought it along with the US Navy and Air Force under the unified National Military Establishment, which in 1949 was retitled to the Department of Defence.
“Restoring the name ‘Department of War’ will sharpen the focus of this Department on our national interest and signal to adversaries America’s readiness to wage war to secure its interests,” the White House document said.
