President Donald Trump has sidelined concerns that Congress is not in line with his plans. “We’re going to do that,” he said.
Trump proposes renaming the Department of Defense to the War Bureau
“We want to be offensive too,” President Trump suggests renaming the Department of Defense to the previous Department of War title.
Is the best defense a good attack? That’s what President Donald Trump thinks.
Twice on August 25th, Trump brought up the previously stated intentions, bringing up the intention to rename the Department of Defense as what was once called – the Department of War.
He also sidelined concerns that Congress was not in line with his plans.
“We’re just trying to do that,” he told a reporter in the oval office. He was asked whether such changes would require Congressional actions. “I’m sure if we need it, Congress will go with us. I don’t think we need it.”
Earlier in the day during an event in the oval office, he presented the rationale for the idea.
“It used to be called the Ministry of War, but there was a stronger sound,” he said. “And as you know, we won World War I, we won World War II. We won everything.”
Before he nurtured his second topic on Monday, he just finished speaking what he described in June as a “surprising” and “perfect” US military operation to attack three nuclear sites using B-2 stealth bombers.
“Defensive is too defensive. We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too,” he said. “It seems more appropriate.”
When the First Congress met in 1789, it created three divisions to support the President: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (now the Ministry of State), the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry (now the Ministry of Defense).
In 1798, Congress established another Navy Department. Following World War II, the 1947 National Security Act fused the armed and naval divisions and jointly established a new air force known as the National Military Facilities.
In 1949, the NME was renamed the Department of Defense to better reflect the military’s civilian leaders and the department’s mission to block and protect the country’s security.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA Today. x You can follow her at @swapnavenugopal
