Is the best defense a good offense? President Donald Trump thinks so.
Twice on Aug. 25, Trump brought up his previously stated intention to rename the Department of Defense to what it was once called – the Department of War.
He also brushed aside any concerns about Congress not going along with his plans.
“We’re just going to do it,” he told a reporter in the Oval Office, when asked if such a change would require an act of Congress. “I’m sure Congress will go along, if we need that. I don’t think we even need that.”
During an event in the Oval Office earlier in the day, he presented his rationale for the idea.
“It used to be called the Department of War, and it had a stronger sound,” he said. “And as you know, we won World War I, we won World War II. We won everything.”
Before he brought up the topic for a second time on Monday, he’d just finished recounting what he described as the “amazing” and “flawless” U.S. military operation in June against Iran using B-2 stealth bombers to strike three nuclear sites.
“Defense is too defensive. We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive, too,” he said. “Seems much more appropriate.”
When the First Congress met in 1789, it created three departments to aid the president: Department of Foreign Affairs (now the Department of State), the Department of Treasury and the Department of War (now the Department of Defense).
In 1798, Congress created a separate Department of Navy. Following World War II, the National Security Act of 1947 merged the Army and Navy departments and created a new Air Force, jointly known as the National Military Establishment.
In 1949, the NME was renamed the Department of Defense to better reflect the civilian leadership of the military and the department’s mission to deter war and protect the security of the country.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says the Department of Defense should be the Department of War
