Overview

• President Trump signed a Sept. 5 order allowing use of “Department of War” as a secondary title for the Pentagon, which remains legally the Department of Defense.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cast the shift as a return to an offensive, “warrior” mindset, even as the official name cannot change without an act of Congress.
• Hegseth drew notice for an Oval Office slip where he said “DOD” before correcting to “DOW,” underscoring the rebranding’s early growing pains.
• Reporting highlights projected costs that could reach up to $1 billion to update signage, seals and communications across Defense facilities.
• Separate reporting describes recent U.S. strikes on speedboats in the southern Caribbean that killed multiple people, with the administration citing drug interdiction and no publicly presented evidence in the coverage.