President Trump stirred up the D.C. peanut gallery this week by casually referring to Pete Hegseth as the “Secretary of War” in a Truth Social post, praising him after a particularly sharp segment on Fox News. Hegseth, a veteran and straight-shooter, was discussing the future of warfare and modern military technology—so naturally, Trump, never one to miss a historical flourish, decided to give the old title a revival.
“You know, it used to be called Secretary of War,” Trump said during a talk at the NATO summit in The Hague. That’s not just some Trumpism pulled out of thin air. The title was, in fact, real and used by the U.S. government until 1947, when President Harry Truman replaced it with the more “diplomatic” term Secretary of Defense. Kenneth Royall was the last man to hold the original title.
But Trump wasn’t just waxing nostalgic. He was drawing a sharp contrast between what America used to stand for and what the D.C. bureaucratic class has watered down. “Then we became politically correct and they called it Secretary of Defense,” he said, calling out the post-WWII shift in language. “Maybe for a couple of weeks we’ll call it that because we feel like warriors.”
Predictably, the left melted down faster than a soy latte on a radiator. “Zero days without an embarrassment,” one snarky social media user posted. Another armchair academic whined about how the Department of Defense was born from Cold War necessity, not “wokeness,” as if that somehow invalidates the symbolism Trump was tapping into. And of course, someone trotted out the Constitution and tried to argue Congress has to approve a job title change, because nothing screams “misses the point” like legal nitpicking over rhetorical flair.
Here’s the truth: President Trump is making a statement. He’s sick of weak leadership, endless compromise, and a Pentagon that’s more concerned with climate briefings and DEI audits than projecting strength. Pete Hegseth, a combat vet who actually understands the warrior ethos, is the kind of leader who reminds Americans what it means to defend our country—not just manage it.
So if Trump wants to call him Secretary of War, good. It sends a message: this administration isn’t afraid to fight—to lead boldly and unapologetically in a world that’s becoming more dangerous by the day.
And judging by the left’s reaction, it hit exactly the nerve it was supposed to.
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