BURSTPresident Trump is slated to make an announcement on Tuesday about the Department of Defense amid talk of renaming it the Department of War and as he raises the prospect of deploying the National Guard to Chicago.
“The President will be making an exciting announcement related to the Department of Defense," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The announcement is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Oval Office. It will mark the first time Trump has made remarks on camera since last Tuesday.
Trump last Monday indicated he could move soon to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War in the near future. The president has argued it was called the Department of War during U.S. victories in World War I and World War II.
“Defense is a part of that,” Trump said. “But I have a feeling we’re going to be changing. Everybody likes that. We had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War.”
The Department of War was established by George Washington in 1789. It existed until 1947, when it was reorganized by then-President Harry Truman. It was renamed the Department of Defense in 1949.
Trump has also in recent days repeatedly raised the idea of deploying the National Guard to Chicago to crack down on crime in the city. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and city officials have sharply pushed back on the threat of troops coming into Chicago.
"At least 54 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, 8 people were killed. The last two weekends were similar," Trump posted Tuesday morning on Truth Social. "Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far. Pritzker needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet. I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC."
The White House last month ordered the deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops around Washington, D.C., as part of an effort to reduce crime. Those troops began carrying weapons, though some have been assigned to tasks like picking up trash.