I know that many liberal Americans are appalled by the Trump regime name change of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. But this is actually the most honest thing the regime has done thus far. And that is saying a lot.

The American Empire has always been at war. In fact, it has been in some kind of armed conflict 225 out of its 243 years as a country. Of course, the liberal explanation for this has been to provide justification for its belligerence. “Humanitarian intervention” had oft been the catch all phrase to describe American military action, both overt and covert, in the Global South.

The Department of War is the most accurate moniker for an agency that has committed or supported some of the most heinous crimes in human history. It carpet bombed Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. It funded military juntas and death squads in Central America. It subverted democratically elected governments in Chile, Iran and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It destroyed Libya and invaded Iraq, a nation that never attacked it. And it has aided and abetted the ongoing genocide in Gaza via its colonial asset, Israel.

The fascist Trump regime is the natural iteration of a centuries long project of domination via violence and threat. “Pax Americana” was a romantic lie that sanitized this reality with the myth of being the world’s “policeman.” Flawed, but noble in its intentions.

The ceremonious name change of this department is merely tearing down that benevolent facade of American imperialism that has obscured its murderous character since its inception.

Kenn Orfanos, November 2025