Trump's USA The future of the USA

Trump moves forward: Renaming the Department of Defense

US President Donald Trump will sign a presidential order on Friday to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War, US media reports.

The Department of War was renamed to its current name shortly after World War II. With the new name change, Trump wants to "signal to America's enemies that the country is ready to go to war to protect its interests", according to a document that several media outlets have seen.

A name change actually requires a legislative amendment that must pass Congress. It is currently unclear how Trump plans to circumvent it.

Rounding up missile agreement from 1987 – to sell attack drones

Donald Trump plans to reinterpret a 38-year-old missile agreement to enable the export of heavy attack drones such as the MQ-9 Reaper. This is reported by Reuters.

By classifying the drones as aircraft instead of robotic systems, the rules in the international MTCR agreement from 1987 are circumvented. It paves the way for the US to sell more than 100 drones to Saudi Arabia, which has expressed a desire to buy them.

American drone manufacturers hope to compete with Israeli, Chinese and Turkish rivals whose restrictions are often lighter.

Critics warn that the change could fuel conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia.