Opinion

DAVID MARCUS: In Trump's Department of War, it's soldiers — not experts — calling the shots

From the Easter Sunday rescue to Trump's Tuesday ultimatum, the shift from defense to war redefines U.S. military strategy

By David Marcus Fox News

Published April 7, 2026 3:00pm EDT

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Pete Hegseth praises rescue mission of downed airman at Trump press conference: 'We leave no man behind - and that is not luck'

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth celebrates the successful military rescue of a downed U.S. airman over the weekend.

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When President Donald Trump changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War last year, many saw it as merely a branding exercise, but as the fierceness of Operation Epic Fury in Iran has shown us, it was much, much more than that.

On Easter Sunday, our military pulled off a daring rescue of a downed airman behind enemy lines, and what it made clear, once again, is that Trump’s Department of War is run by soldiers, not by experts, and the results are phenomenal.

As Secretary of War and former frontline veteran Pete Hegseth has put it many times, his Pentagon will focus on "maximum lethality, not tepid legality."

Put another way, what is the point of having the biggest, deadliest, most powerful military in the world if every bad actor across the globe knows America is too feckless to use it?

TRUMP TOUTS AIRMAN RESCUE MISSION, BOASTS IRAN COULD BE 'TAKEN........

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