Today, President Donald Trump announced that he is changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War.
This move is not just semantic. It is ominously symbolic of the disturbing escalation in U.S. militarism and war-making under the second Trump administration — both at home and abroad.
Trump has sought to brand himself as an antiwar president. Yet eight months into his second administration, the U.S. has continued to arm Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, bombed Iran, bombed Yemen, bombed Somalia, and has now opened a new chapter of the never-ending “War on Terror” in the Western Hemisphere.
The administration’s military strike that killed 11 alleged Venezuelan gang members on Tuesday was an illegal, reckless, and outrageous misuse of military power. This extrajudicial killing of civilians is a grave war crime and a violation the most basic and sacred human right: the right to live.
Drug trafficking is a crime. Alleged offenders must be dealt with under the rule of law with due process — not with military force. Summarily executing them is illegal, appalling, and unacceptable.
As analyst Daniel Larison writes, “Our foreign policy is already overmilitarized and destructive. This new “cartel war,” as he puts it, “will make it even worse.”
It’s crucial that our lawmakers exert their constitutional war powers and power of purse to push back. But as Congress returns from August recess, the Senate is negotiating a budget that threatens to deepen this militarization of our foreign policy, further surging spending on war while slashing funds for peace and humanitarian aid.
As a Quaker organization, FCNL is called to oppose all war and defend the inherent worth and dignity of all people. This is a dangerous and difficult moment. But we must continue to lift up our moral voice and our vision for the better world that we seek –one where our tax dollars are used to foster peace and prosperity, not destruction and war.
Tell Congress: Fund aid, not bombs!
Elsewhere
“How Trump’s Military Overreach Threatens Us All”
In Inkstick Media, FCNL’s Vanessa Schoning and former FCNL Program Assistant Devra Baxter broke down the threat that militarism poses here at home.
“The military is now being used in ways once unimaginable for immigration enforcement — stationing troops in U.S. cities, detaining migrants in military prisons, and invoking wartime powers to expel them,” they wrote. This is a “calculated effort to expand military power into domestic immigration policy and blur the lines between enforcement and war.”
Courts Push Back on Militarism at Home
In important positive news on Tuesday, a federal court ruled that President Trump’s use of the military in Los Angeles is illegal, issuing an order barring the administration from using troops to “[create] a national police force with the President as its chief.”
Washington, D.C. is now suing the administration as well, challenging Trump’s deployment of troops in the district.
In another positive ruling this week, a federal appeals court blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport immigrants fromVenezuela. The case is now likely to be heard by the Supreme Court, according to The New York Times.
Hitting the Road with Neil Young to Spread a Hopeful Message
When Neil Young’s team invited us to table at his concerts this summer, FCNL staff and volunteers hit the road, engaging with hundreds of concertgoers across the country and passing out stickers and bookmarks to spread our urgent calls for peace and justice.
“In this scary, chaotic era, people are excited to hear a strong moral voice for peace and justice,” FCNL’s Stephen Donahoe wrote.
As one concert attendee told us, “I’ve been feeling so angry and confused, but it’s so helpful to be out here with people who believe in a better way.”
