Overview

• Trump argued that “defense” is too passive and said the United States must be prepared to act offensively when necessary.
• He now refers to Pete Hegseth as his War Secretary, and Hegseth noted the U.S. won past world wars under the War Department label.
• A Yahoo/YouGov poll found 29% support for the change and 56% opposition.
• At the signing event, Trump warned Chicago it would “soon find out why it is called Department of WAR.”
• Reporting describes recent naval action near Venezuela, including a smuggler boat sunk and additional deployments, alongside a defense budget increase to an estimated $961.6 billion.