WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has signed an order to bring back the old War Department name for the Pentagon, saying it better reflects strength and victory. 

Flanked by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth at a signing ceremony in the White House, the Republican president called the change a powerful symbol, replacing the Department of Defence title that has been in use for more than 70 years.

He said the current name was too “wokey.”

“I think it sends a message of victory,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about the rebrand. “It’s a much more appropriate name in light of where the world is right now.”

The name harks back to the War Department, the title used for more than 150 years from 1789, just after independence from Britain, until 1947, shortly after the Second World War.

Trump cannot formally change the Pentagon’s name without congressional approval — but the 79-year-old’s order authorises the use of the new label as a “secondary title.”

Former Fox News host Hegseth quickly embraced the change, posting a video of a new nameplate reading “Secretary of War” being fixed to his door at the Pentagon.

The combat veteran, appointed by Trump to lead a major overhaul of the sprawling department, said the change was “not just about renaming, it’s about restoring the warrior ethos.”

“Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We’re going to raise up warriors, not just defenders,” said Hegseth.

Trump meanwhile appeared to blame America’s military setbacks since its victories in the First and Second World Wars on the 1949 decision to call it the Department of Defense.

“We could have won every war, but we really chose to be very politically correct or wokey,” said Trump, who was signing the 200th executive order of his second term.

Too ‘defensive’

The rebrand is part of Trump’s broader push to project power at home and abroad in his second term under the “Make America Great Again” policy.

He has ordered a US military build-up in the Caribbean to counter what he calls drug cartels led by Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro. US forces killed 11 people earlier this week in a strike on what Washington said was a drug-carrying boat.

Trump also ordered a US military strike on Iranian nuclear sites in June.

Domestically, he has deployed the US National Guard in Washington and Los Angeles in recent months, describing it as a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration.

Trump’s “Department of War” move could also sit uneasily with his campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize, for what he claims is his role in ending several conflicts — he has alternately said six and seven.

Democrats have dismissed the move as an expensive political stunt by the billionaire.

The White House has yet to say how much a rebrand would cost, though US media expect a billion-dollar price tag for the overhaul of hundreds of agencies, emblems, email addresses, and uniforms.

A Pentagon official told AFP: “The cost estimate will fluctuate as we carry out President Trump’s directive to establish the Department of War’s name. We will have a clearer estimate to report at a later time.”

Trump had trailed the announcement for weeks, complaining that the Department of Defense sounded too “defensive” and made America appear weak.

Hegseth has also attacked previous administrations for policies he and Trump derided as “woke.”

Notably, he has sought to expel transgender troops from the military and to restore the original names of bases once honouring Confederate soldiers, after they were renamed under President Joe Biden.

The War Department was created in August 1789 to oversee the US Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, according to an official Pentagon history web page. The Navy and Marines split off a decade later.

• Starmer appoints new deputy, foreign, interior ministers.
• Reshuffle sparked by resignation of Rayner.
• Starmer sad to lose ‘trusted colleague.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer brought in a new deputy and foreign and interior ministers on Friday in a sweeping reshuffle intended to restore his authority after the resignation of his deputy, Angela Rayner.

Starmer moved foreign minister David Lammy to become deputy prime minister and replaced him with interior minister Yvette Cooper. She was, in turn, replaced by justice secretary Shabana Mahmood. All are loyal, trusted hands.

After reshaping his Downing Street team last week to bolster his economic advice, a ministerial reshuffle had been expected. Rayner’s departure meant it was much deeper than widely predicted, forcing Starmer to draw a line under more than a week of distracting speculation over her tax affairs.

Starmer could do little to protect Rayner after Britain’s independent adviser ruled that she had breached the ministerial code by failing to pay the correct tax.

“Angela is a ‘big beast’ and hard to replace,” said one Labour lawmaker, adding that the three new appointments were “sound” if not overly exciting.

While Lammy has been given the position of deputy prime minister, he has also been forced to hand over the much sought-after role of foreign secretary and replace Mahmood at justice.

Cooper is one of Labour’s most senior figures after serving former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Her appointment will be seen as a promotion of sorts after overseeing the government’s often criticised policy to tackle illegal migration.

Mahmood, 44, is also seen as a “safe pair of hands” in Labour, a no-nonsense politician who has not been scared to take bold action while running the justice system.

Loyalty is seen as vital by Starmer, who has suffered the most ministerial resignations – outside government reshuffles – of any prime minister early in their tenure in almost 50 years.

“There is a sense at the moment that they don’t know what they are doing and what they stand for,” Chris Hopkins, political research director at polling firm Savanta, told Reuters.

Regrets

Rayner, 45, was the eighth, and the most senior, ministerial departure from Starmer’s team, and the most damaging yet after the British leader offered her his support when she was first accused of avoiding 40,000 pounds ($54,000) in tax.

Rayner apologised to Starmer in her resignation letter. “I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice,” she said.

She also stepped down as a minister and as deputy party leader, a position that Lammy will now be in pole position for.

The independent adviser on ministerial standards ruled Rayner had broken the ministerial code – rules to ensure the conduct of politicians meets the standards of public service – because she failed to heed a warning within legal advice, which she said she had relied on to seek expert advice on her complicated financial situation.

Rayner’s resignation has put more pressure on Starmer, with Labour trailing Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK in the polls.

Starmer faces difficult state spending and tax choices as he seeks to repair the centre-left party’s image after they also came under fire for accepting expensive items, including clothing and concert tickets from donors, before they were forced to water down cuts to the welfare budget.

On the first day of Reform’s party conference in the central English city of Birmingham, Farage brought forward his speech by three hours to address Rayner’s resignation.

He said the Labour government was in “deep crisis” and the next election may take place in 2027, implying that Labour, which has a big majority and does not need to call an election until 2029, may find itself unable to govern.

“Despite all the promises that this would be a new, different type of politics, is as bad, if not worse, than the one that went before,” he told the audience to loud applause.

Rayner had registered a new home in the southern English seaside resort of Hove as her primary residence, after she sold her share of her family home in northern England to a trust that was set up for one of her sons, who has lifelong disabilities.

Rayner said she had believed she would not have to pay the higher rate of tax charged when buying a second home. But after media reports drew attention to the fact she may have avoided 40,000 pounds, she took further legal advice and said she had made a mistake and would pay the additional tax.

• India may build a third, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
• Roadmap includes first use of domestic fighter jets on carriers.
• Emphasis on drones, widely used in recent conflict with Pakistan.
  

India could build its third aircraft carrier, to be nuclear-powered, as part of a 15-year defence modernisation plan announced on Friday that also includes the use of Indian-made fighter jets by the navy for the first time.

Bordered by strategic rivals China and Pakistan, both of whom India has clashed with in deadly fights in recent years, New Delhi is increasingly leaning on domestic defence companies to bolster capabilities and cut dependence on foreign suppliers such as Russia, France and the United States.

“As the nation stands on the threshold of embracing greater challenges and responsibilities in the forthcoming decades, it is but imperative that the Services be equipped accordingly,” said the defence ministry’s 2025 roadmap.

“Greater private-public sector partnership is thus the road ahead.”

India currently operates two aircraft carriers, one of Russian origin and the other home-built. The proposed carrier is expected to be nuclear-powered, a first for India, for longer reach and stealthier operations.

The document outlines the need for at least 10 nuclear propulsion systems to support the carrier and other future warships, underscoring India’s ambition to expand its strategic reach across the Indian Ocean.

India also plans to induct an unspecified number of new-generation twin-engine, deck-based fighters and light combat aircraft, both being developed by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for the navy.

In April, India signed a deal with France worth 630 billion rupees (about $8 billion) for 26 Rafale-Marine twin and single-seat jets, made by Dassault Aviation, to be deployed on its two carriers: INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya.

India hopes to have 62 Rafale jets in service by 2030, including 36 for the air force that started arriving in 2020. Currently, the carriers deploy a fleet of Soviet-origin MiG-29K.

The roadmap also anticipates procuring two electromagnetic aircraft launch systems, developed for the US Navy to launch aircraft from carriers using electromagnetic forces instead of traditional steam catapults.

It also places a big emphasis on drones that played a key role in a May military conflict with Pakistan.

India has budgeted spending of about 6.81 trillion rupees ($77 billion) on defence this fiscal year. It is the world’s fourth biggest defence spender after the United States, China and Russia, according to World Bank data.