Why the Pentagon’s New Name Matters
Crossroads with Joshua Philipp
The Epoch Times
4.9 • 594 Ratings
🗓️ 8 September 2025
⏱️ 73 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order authorizing the Department of Defense to use the Department of War as a secondary title.
The update was made official during a White House event, where Trump said he was bringing back the original name of the department. And the action is raising questions over whether this is just a name change or a signal of something else.
Alongside this, Trump posted two images that appear to be a veiled threat to Russia. This happens as the president says he’s losing patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
And also, in other news, a young woman who was stabbed to death on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, is sparking outrage over what some call light-on-crime policies and an alleged double standard in reporting by the corporate media.
We’ll discuss these topics, and others, in this episode of Crossroads.
Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Department of Defense is now gone. It's now known as the Department of War. This is about more than just a name change, however. This is a significant move, and I'll be talking about why it matters. Alongside this, though, Trump posted two images that appear to be a veiled threat to Russia. This happens as the president says he's losing patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin. |
| 0:23.1 | Also, something else just happened. The New York Times just published a piece leaking details |
| 0:28.6 | of a very secret U.S. military operation focused on North Korea. And there may be a lot more to this |
| 0:35.3 | than just run-of-the-mill journalism. The timing of this piece, the nature of it, they're both very important. |
| 0:41.3 | I'll be talking about these topics and a lot more today. |
| 0:44.3 | I'm the Epic Times Senior Investigative reporter Joshua Phillip, and you're listening to Crossroads. |
| 0:57.6 | Welcome to Crossroads. |
| 0:59.8 | The Department of Defense is gone. |
| 1:01.0 | It is no more. |
| 1:04.5 | The Department of Defense is now known as something else. |
| 1:06.6 | It's the Department of War. |
| 1:17.1 | President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the Department of Defense to use the Department of War as a secondary title technically. |
| 1:21.2 | And Pete Hagseth, the defense secretary is no longer that. |
| 1:24.3 | He's now the Secretary of War. |
| 1:28.8 | Let me show you the White House video on the change for this with statements for President Trump and from the Secretary of War, Pete Hagseth. |
| 1:31.7 | We have the strongest military in the world. We have the greatest equipment in the world. |
| 1:35.5 | We have the greatest manufacturers of equipment by far. |
| 1:38.9 | This name change is not just about renaming. It's about restoring. At your direction, Mr. President, the war department |
| 1:46.0 | is going to fight decisively, not endless conflicts. It's going to fight to win, not not to lose. |
| 1:53.6 | We're going to go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality, |
| 2:03.6 | violent effect, not politically correct. We're going to raise up warriors, not just defenders. |
| 2:07.6 | So this war department, Mr. President, just like America, is back. |
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