The plaques bearing the title of American Secretary for Defense – now updated to the “War Secretary” of Pete Hegseth – were replaced on Friday at the Pentagon, shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive decree reversing the Ministry of Defense of the “War Department”.
Read: Trump offers the fame department of defense as “War Department”
The White House said that the order authorizes the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and subordinate officials to use secondary titles such as “War Secretary” and “Deputy Secretary of War” in official correspondence and public communications. Pentagon workers were seen replace the plates outside the offices outside shortly after the announcement.
Source: screenshot, Reuters
Plates for the American Secretary for Defense (now “Secretary of War”), Pete Hegseth (source: screenshot, Reuters)
The Ministry of War was the official name of the American army until 1949, when the Congress consolidated the army, the navy and the air army newly formed under the Ministry of Defense to reflect an emphasis on post-war deterrence in the nuclear era.
The ordinance also orders HegSeth to recommend legislative and executive steps to consolidate the name change. Republicans holding close majorities at Congress, the change is unlikely to deal with great resistance.
This decision marks Trump’s latest efforts to rename the US military, after having presided over an extraordinary parade in Washington, DC, and restored the original names of the military bases which had been modified as a result of racial justice demonstrations in 2020.
The rename of the Pentagon should be expensive, as signs, plates and header strings should be updated not only in Washington but also in American military facilities around the world. A previous effort by former President Joe Biden to rename nine bases in honor of Confederate leaders would have cost $ 39 million before HegSeth vice versa this year.
Critics have warned that change is not necessary and politically motivated. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a democratic veteran, said: “Why not put this money to support the families of the military or to employ diplomats who help to prevent conflicts from starting first? Because Trump prefers to use our soldiers to score political points only to strengthen our national security and to support our brave military and their families – that’s why.”
Find out more: “ We have lost India, Russia in the darkest China ”
Hegseth, however, defended the order, saying: “Changing the name is not only words – it is warrior ethics.”
Trump also argued that the current name of the Pentagon is too careful. “Defense is too defensive,” he told supporters last month. “We want to be defensive, but we also want to be offensive if we have to be.”
He also suggested earlier this year that the change of origin at the “Ministry of Defense” had been made for “politically correct” reasons.
