Trump to declare ‘Dept. of War’ as his peace efforts falter

Even as he relentlessly campaigns to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Donald Trump is also a man who fetishizes violence and shows of force, particularly fascistic displays of military force used to intimidate unarmed civilians, and action movie-like videos of blowing things up.

As he orders military strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in Latin America and sends U.S. National Guard troops into Democratic-governed cities that don’t want them, allegedly to fight crime, Trump seems to think matters of law are of less importance than what he evidently thinks is good politics for him and the GOP.

On Friday, Trump will sign an executive order giving the Department of Defense “a secondary title” as the “Department of War,” according to a White House fact sheet, the Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe noted.

“The Order instructs the Secretary of War to recommend actions, to include legislative and executive actions, required to permanently rename the U.S. Department of Defense to the U.S. Department of War,” the White House fact sheet said.

“The name ‘Department of War’ conveys a stronger message of readiness and resolve compared to ‘Department of Defense,’ which emphasizes only defensive capabilities,” the White House fact sheet says, Reuter’s White House correspondent Nandita Bose wrote.

“Department of War!” the ever desperate to be seen as a tough guy Pete Hegseth tweeted tonight, evidently relishing his new title, Secretary of War.

The attempted displays of military prowess come as questions swirl about Trump’s health after he had no public events for seven days including the Labor Day holiday, and as Trump’s efforts to advance peace between Russia and Ukraine have failed, and indeed Russia has increased its attacks on Ukrainian cities following Trump’s controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With Trump evidently unable to make headway with Putin, he seems to have chosen Venezuela’s dictator Nicolas Maduro as a bully he would rather toy going to war with, on the pretext of alleged support for drug cartels.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday (Sept. 2) to announce the move of U.S. Space Command from Democratic-leaning Colorado to Republican Alabama, Trump--who until then had conspicuously not made a public appearance since a full week earlier--rambled at one point semi-coherently about having just blown a boat out of the water –apparently in reference to a likely illegal U.S. military operation targeting what the administration claimed was a drug smuggling