Hegseth Accidentally Tells The Truth About Trump's 'Department Of War' Renaming With Awkward Freudian Slip

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tripped himself up with a massive Freudian slip while explaining to reporters why he'd like to return to calling his department the Department of War.

Hegseth spoke after President Donald Trump on Monday during a White House meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, where Trump said he wants to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War. Trump argued that the U.S. had enjoyed an “unbelievable history of victory” in wars fought under the old moniker, which remained in use until 1947.

Hegseth said:

"Here's the thing, here's what people miss—it's not just about words. It's about the warrior ethos. It's about what the department is supposed to do. George Washington started the Department of War because he wanted us to win our wars."

"Our founders didn't want endless foreign entanglements. They didn't want endless contingencies and deployments. They wanted an empowered military—the handcuffs were taken off—to fight to win, and then bring those troops home."

Then he dropped it:

"My platoon in Guantanamo Bay, our motto was, 'Those who long for peace must declare for war—must prepare for war."

After stumbling, he added:

"We don't want war, we don't seek it ... because we are strong, our enemies know what we will do. And so, whether it's Secretary of War or Secretary of Defense, that warrior ethos is changing and going back to basics."

You can hear what he said in the video below.

Such remarks are not a surprise coming from Hegseth, who has said that the second Trump administration is dedicated to "restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military and reestablishing deterrence."

And that Freudian slip sure makes Hegseth sound like he's gunning for actual conflict.

At a separate White House event the same day, Trump explained the reasoning behind the push, saying, “We want defense, but we want offense, too.” In recent months, he has also referred to Hegseth as his “secretary of war,” claiming the original name was abandoned out of political correctness.

In fact, after World War II, President Harry S. Truman led a sweeping overhaul of the War Department, aiming to streamline national security and unify the armed services.

In 1947, Congress approved his plan to create the National Defense Establishment, which brought the Army, Navy, and the newly created Air Force under one governing body. Two years later, it was formally renamed the Department of Defense.

The War Department itself dated back to 1789, when President George Washington established it to oversee the Army.

The Navy and Marine Corps were later placed under a separate Department of the Navy in 1798, and that divided structure lasted until Truman’s reforms. Truman had outlined his vision as early as April 1946, calling for the “unification of all our armed services in a single department.”