$125 million could build a a modern 100- to 250-bed community hospital. Or, a permanent "Department of War" change.

Trump Wins Fight to Blow $125 Million on ‘Dumbest Thing Ever’
WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
Republicans have given Trump a symbolic trophy.

Leigh Kimmins Reporter
Updated Jun. 5 2026 12:17PM EDT
Published Jun. 5 2026 11:03AM EDT

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-wins-fight-to-blow-125-million-on-dumbest-thing-ever/

Republicans have handed President Trump a win in one of his more eyebrow-raising vanity projects, a push to rename the Pentagon that Democrats say will cost up to $125 million and accomplish absolutely nothing.

The House Armed Services Committee voted along party lines to permanently rename the Department of Defense the Department of War, tucking the measure into the annual defense policy bill during a marathon late-night session. The move codifies an executive order Trump signed last fall, resurrecting a name the U.S. military bureaucracy last used in the 1940s.

Representative Adam Smith, of Washington and the committee’s top Democrat, was forthright in his assessment of the effort. “One of the dumbest things that has been done by this administration,” he said. “It’s semantic nonsense at a time when we have a lot of substantive arguments.”

The amendment was introduced by Republican Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas, a hard-line Trump ally, who framed the rebrand in soaring terms. “Restoring the name Department of War sends an unmistakable signal to the world,” Jackson said. “Deterrence only works when adversaries believe America is willing to fight and win to secure its interests.”