Trump Wants to Bring Back Secretary of War Title for Hegseth
President Donald Trump floated bringing back the title of Secretary of War despite repeatedly declaring himself a president who is all about peace.
The president made the comment during his press conference alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday at the NATO Summit.
'I have, as you know, Marco Rubio with me and Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State and Secretary of War, should we say,' Trump said, adding: 'You know it used to be called Secretary of War?'
Trump said maybe for a 'couple of weeks' they would call it Secretary of War 'because we feel like warriors.'
The president went off on a tangent at that point. He said the building next to the White House shows where it used to be called Secretary of War.
'Then it became politically correct, and they started calling it Secretary of Defense,' he claimed. 'I don't know, maybe we'll have to start thinking about changing it, but we feel that way.'
The president looked over his shoulder at Hegseth, who was standing slightly behind him.
The Defense Secretary, who often refers to members of the U.S. military as warriors, nodded along enthusiastically.
The Secretary of War was first used as a member of the president's Cabinet dating all the way back to President George Washington.
The Secretary of War was at first responsible for all military affairs as head of the War Department, but a Secretary of the Navy was created by Congress soon after, so the War Secretary was the head of the Army.
The position of Defense Secretary was first created to assist the president in all matters related to national security in the 1947 National Security Act. It was amended two years later to give the secretary authority over the Defense Department.
The Secretary of War was replaced with the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force, which, along with the Secretary of the Navy, were non-Cabinet level positions since 1949 under the Secretary of Defense.
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