President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social this week that he now refers to Pete Hegseth as Secretary of War, not Defense — signaling a bold return to America’s military strength.
The president praised Hegseth after his Fox News segment detailing the latest in military weapons and strategy, calling him a “true warrior” and suggesting it’s time to ditch the politically correct title and get back to basics.
“It used to be called Secretary of War,” Trump told reporters during the NATO summit in The Hague. “Maybe for a couple of weeks we’ll call it that because we feel like warriors.”
The term “Secretary of War” hasn’t been used since 1947, when the Department of War was renamed as part of a bureaucratic reshuffling that came at the dawn of the Cold War. President Truman was the last commander-in-chief to use the original title.
Trump suggested the change is fitting given the current moment — especially as the administration has conducted precision military strikes in Iran and ramped up national security in response to growing global threats.
“Then we became
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