The President who desperately craves the Nobel Peace Prize, who lobbies world leaders to nominate him, who called the Norwegian Finance Minister to ask for it (Jens Stoltenberg was previously NATO Secretary-General) and who constantly claims to have ended seven long-standing conflicts in his seven months in office, signed on Friday night (Spain time) an executive order to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, reclaiming the name it had until 1947 and that his predecessor Harry Truman abolished to send a message to the world after World War II.
Donald Trump did this while continuing to move ships, submarines, and fighter jets near Venezuela, while boasting about bombing Iran, while showing aggression towards the axis forming between Moscow and Beijing with other major powers like India. And he does so true to his rhetoric: "I think the name Department of War sends a signal," something "much more appropriate, especially considering the current world situation."
Trump believes what Truman did was woke, that until then the U.S. easily won all wars, but not since then, from Korea to Vietnam, from Iraq to Afghanistan. "We could have won all the wars, but we really chose to be very politically correct, or progressive, and now we just fight endlessly [without winning]." Referring to that past, the new Secretary of War, former Fox presenter Pete Hegseth, stated that "this change is not just about renaming; it's about restoring. Words matter. Restoring victory as an instinct, restoring intentionality in the use of force. Fighting to win, not to lose in endless conflicts. Maximum lethality, not lukewarm legality. Having a violent effect, not being politically correct. We will train warriors, not just defenders," affirmed the Pentagon official.
The decision fits somewhat into the complex puzzle that is the president's strategy, a politician who returned to power on what seems to be a consensus in the MAGA universe (Make America Great Again): not getting involved in distant conflicts, stopping sending soldiers all over the world, not being the world's police, spending money on improving the lives of Americans. But he constantly breaks those self-imposed limits, saying he will annex Canada, the Panama Canal, or Greenland, bombing in Yemen or Iran, threatening other countries in Latin America. Just last Friday, he signed the order with a model of a B2 bomber on his desk.
Historically, all U.S. presidents have felt tempted to use the military might of the leading global power to intervene. In the Middle East, Africa, Central America. From Yugoslavia to Mogadishu. But most quickly discovered the costs and dangers. Trump does not want to send troops, invade, but at the same time, amidst the rise of China and the constant presence of Russia, he considers it absurd not to use the power at his disposal to achieve his interests. And as seen, that can involve bombers, submarines, or drones. From a distance, but lethal.
In reality, what the Executive is doing is not a name change per se, because that requires approval from Congress, but authorizing Hegseth to use Secretary of War and Department of War as secondary titles in official correspondence, public communications, and during formal ceremonies. Mockery of the president, who never served in the military and avoided the Vietnam draft, has multiplied in recent hours. Nothing is more paradoxical than expecting the Nobel Peace Prize (he has said he deserves four or five) while appealing to war.
But it does not seem to be a cause for concern. Trump, who revived the motto "Peace through Strength" as the philosophy of his Administration, will continue to pressure the Norwegian committee to achieve the same recognition that Barack Obama received (quite absurdly right after taking office), while using force as a central element in his foreign policy. Coercion towards neighbors, rivals, but also those considered allies until now.