In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump referred to Pete Hegseth not as the Secretary of Defense, but by a new title: Secretary of War. The post heaped praise on Hegseth for an appearance he made on Fox News, where he discussed modern-day military weapons and warfare.
Trump first made mention of a possible title change for Hegseth during the NATO summit, where he gave a short history lesson, thinking aloud about using a title for the cabinet position that hasn’t been used in over 80 years.
“You know, it used to be called Secretary of War,” the president said during his talk. The last commander-in-chief to use that designation was President Harry Truman, who applied it to Kenneth Royall, who became the last individual to hold the title. The Department of War was abolished in 1947, according to AL.com.
The title and position were replaced by the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force, just before the Secretary of Defense was created.
According to the report, the president was potentially thinking about the strikes on Iran when he suggested the title change to Secretary of War.
“Maybe for a couple of weeks we’ll call it that because we feel like warriors,” Trump said to members of the press at the NATO summit at The Hague. “Used to be called secretary of war.”
“In fact, if you look at the old building, next to the White House,” Trump added, “you could see where it used to be the Secretary of War.”
The position of secretary of defense ultimately replaced the cabinet position of secretary of war, to which Trump said, “Then we became politically correct and they called it secretary of defense.”
“Maybe we’ll have to start thinking about changing it,” he stated, “but we feel that way.”
Liberals immediately took to social media after Trump made the comments, slamming the rebranding of the position.
One user remarked, “Zero days without an embarrassment.” Another added, “Indeed, when historians examine the National Security Act of 1947, we certainly emphasize how the centralization of American military authority under the newly established Department of Defense at the onset of the Cold War was primarily about being ‘politically correct.’”
A third individual stated, “I am quite certain that the Constitution stipulates Congress must be involved if one wishes to designate him as the Secretary of War…”
Other users criticized President Trump for his enthusiastic support of Hegseth as the Secretary of War, despite campaigning on an anti-war platform.