Department of War: The Major Implications for US Foreign Policy

President Trump and Secretary Hegseth in the Oval Office at Trump’s Announcement

Source: Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images.

When President Trump took office, he promised to be the “President of Peace,” to end the war in Ukraine on “day one,” and often remarked he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment to international peace. Paradoxically, the President sent the world a very different message earlier this month with his executive order rebranding the Department of Defense into the Department of War. This rebranding, while performative, signifies the new image of America that Trump hopes to instill in the diplomatic community. 

“I think it sends a message of victory. I think it sends, really, a message of strength,” Trump said at his announcement in the Oval Office. Trump had repeatedly tied the department’s old name to “wokeness,” a word he has repeatedly used to negatively brand policies that lean to the left of his own. The United States had, around that time, shifted its foreign policy to become more concerned with the standing of other nations. An example of this being the creation of USAID, an agency Trump had dismantled earlier this year in his crusade against foreign aid. 

However, his decision doesn’t project American strength: it represents a belligerent shift in U.S. foreign policy. To understand this, it remains helpful to look back to when the agency last possessed this name. 

In 1949, after the Second World War, President Harry Truman consolidated and renamed the old War Department into what we know as the Department of Defense. At the time, the United States was viewed by most of the world as a peaceful mediator, a nation that led the push to safeguard diplomacy and human rights around the world. Before the world wars, the U.S. possessed a more expansionist and isolationist international policy, eager to expand territorial breadth while remaining neutral in most major global conflicts. It appears we may be moving backwards. This re-posturing of the department is a sign that Trump is starting a new war, one against the status quo of American diplomacy and modern peace. 

“We’re going to go on offense, not just on defense,” using “maximum lethality” that won’t be “politically correct,” Hegseth said in response to the change. 

Earlier this year, President Trump had repeatedly threatened the annexation of Greenland and Canada. This drove an unprecedented wedge in our foundational alliances, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Nations that had historically been our allies no longer trust the United States to do the right thing concerning foreign policy, according to a new survey from Pew Research. These radical policy shifts only serve to harm the United States’ interests abroad. The United States became a global superpower, in part, because it was willing to forge alliances across the globe. Trump’s executive order appears to illustrate the nation as isolationist once again. 

The language within Trump’s own executive order seems to suggest a repositioning of the United States as an aggressor on the global stage. The new name seeks to showcase the administration's commitment toward an “America First” agenda and dedication to securing what they see as rightfully theirs. 

This isolationist attitude emanating from the administration draws striking parallels to many of our historic adversaries. Recently, the Trump administration has drawn condemnation from various world leaders, like Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, due to its aggressive tactics abroad. Rather than providing military support to aligned states, the United States has called for direct intervention, marking a militaristic turn in our foreign policy. Offensives have been launched against drug cartels in Mexico, drawing heavy condemnation from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who described the operation as “an invasion.” If anything, these shifts allow our adversaries to portray the United States as warmongering and a threatening diplomatic security.

The Department of War signals Trump’s shift and admiration toward more authoritarian leaders. Consequently, President Trump is illustrating for the world that his once “unserious” proposals of a great American empire are growing more viable by the day. The new Department of War attempts to revive a “manifest destiny” that remains unequivocally outdated in the 21st century.

As Abraham Lincoln famously stated in his second inaugural address, referring to the U.S. Civil War, “with malice towards none, and charity towards all.” If the United States wants to remain a global superpower, it must continue its role as a charitable keeper of peace. While it may initially appear as a performative name change, the Department of War shows that the new administration is willing to lead United States diplomacy down a dark road. This bellicose move by the President communicates to the rest of the world that the United States wants to move backwards, to the days of American isolationism, rather than pursue modern global diplomacy. Rather than project American strength, this order only further demonstrates to our allies that the United States is not a dependable fighter for democracy around the world. It is incumbent on Americans not to forget that the United States is stronger when it defends liberty throughout the globe rather than waging war against it.