The United States of War: Trump’s “Department of War” and the Empire Laid Bare

Nancy O'Brien Simpson Empire in Plain SightThe War Department Returns In August 2025, Donald Trump stood before cameras and said what no president had dared: America should scrap the Department of Defense and restore the Department of War. “Why are we ‘defense’?” he asked. “‘War Department’ sounded stronger… when we used to win wars all the time.” He even bragged he could do it by executive order—no need for Congress, just the stroke of his pen. It was supposed to be bravado, a throwaway line. But in that moment, the veil lifted. America was not caught defending itself; America was boasting about conquest. For once, the empire said its name out loud.