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TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Morning Brief 2022-07-19

July 19, 2022
Chris Brady

BOTTOM OF HOUR 1

GUEST: Rep. Ronny Jackson
TOPIC: Former White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson, thinks Biden's cognitive skills may be getting worse.

BOTTOM OF HOUR 3
GUEST: Tommy Robinson
TOPIC: Police in Telford, England have not investigated cases of rape involving "Asian" men over fear that it would "inflame racial tensions."

CB, RR, JB, SK, BM

Domestic News...

22-Year-Old Who Killed Indiana Mass Shooter Was Armed Because of ‘Constitutional Carry’
The attacker entered the mall just before 5 pm and went into the bathroom where he put his cell phone in a toilet and readied his guns. He exited the bathroom and began firing at 5:56 pm. At 5:57 pm, Elisjsha Dicken, shot at the attacker, hitting him as he fled back to the bathroom.

The Indy Star Star Got Something Very Wrong in 10-Year-Old Rape Victim Story
This story is a perfect example of media bias and lazy or corrupt journalism. The Indy Star had a narrative to push and pushed it without care for the victim, the facts, or the fallout.

Leftwing group, ShutDownDC, promises to “disrupt” the congressional baseball game
In an obvious nod to the Bernie Bro who attempted to kill the entire house GOP leadership at a practice for the game in 2017, the group behind the harassment of Kavanaugh promised to 'disrupt' the 2022 game.

Minneapolis again displays the brain rot of the Black Lives Matter movement
Andrew “Tekle” Sundberg, a black man, was shot and killed by police. This is all that Black Lives Matter activists care about. Protests began, as did a sympathetic write-up of the activists in the Star Tribune.

In rebuke to Biden, Homeland Security advisory panel finds no need for disinformation board
"We have concluded that there is no need for a Disinformation Governance Board”

Homeland Security records show 'shocking' use of phone data, ACLU says
The civil liberties group released documents showing new details about how agencies had purchased information on people's movements throughout North America.

Major crime skyrockets 37% in NYC, NYPD data shows
Grand larceny has shot up 49%. Auto theft has spiked by 46.2%. Robbery is up 39.2% and burglaries increased by 32.9%. Felonious assault rose by 18.6% and rapes saw an 11% increase so far this year over 2021 .

If you're ‘afraid’ of your husband because of Roe, it signals a much deeper problem
"I'm a 42-year-old woman now afraid I'll get pregnant from my husband of 20 years," Elena told USA Today.

Man pulls gun on women who didn’t thank him for holding door
“A witness reported that the suspect was upset that two woman did not say thank you to him for holding a door open for them,” cops said.

Politics...

CNN Poll: Most Americans are discontented with Biden, the economy and the state of the country
75% call inflation and the cost of living the most important economic problem facing their family. Last summer, that figure stood at 43%.

CNBC POLL: Biden’s Economic Approval Sinks To New Low
The economy appears to be affecting voters’ behavior too: 65% of respondents said they were trying to spend less on entertainment, 61% are driving less and 54% are cutting back on travel, the poll found.

CNN: "Vulnerable Democrats" suddenly very concerned over "inflation crisis"
For the past year, the same Senate Democrats cited in CNN’s report voted in lockstep for Biden’s inflationary American Rescue Plan.

Manchin: Biden's 'Build Back Better' agenda is a 'complete social realignment'
"I was very clear when the president and I talked, I said, ‘Mr. President, this piece of legislation is going to change our country from when John Kennedy said ask not what your country can do for you, what you can do for your country, that piece of legislation will change us to how much more can my country do for me'"

Biden is a gaffe-ingstock: The decline of the prez - and the presidency
Trump’s words might not have carried much weight, but his populist preference for lightning displays of might over long-term entanglements did. Biden, by contrast, is a captive of transnational progressivism, where red lines are just preliminaries to new red lines, and talking is an end in and of itself.

Jill complains about Joe's unpopular presidency in speech on glam island
Jill lamented Joe having had "so many hopes and plans for things he wanted to do" but instead saw his agenda constantly scuttled by domestic and international crises.

Harris, Newsom engage with donors as possible 2024 bids loom if Biden doesn’t run
Party donors have been scrambling to figure out whether Biden is going to run or if someone else could lead the party in 2024.

Kamala: Black Families Are Boosting Home Values By Hanging Up Pictures Of White People
“...you’ve heard the stories about how they’ll then encourage friends of the family — a white family — to come in. And then the white family will put the pictures up of their family. And then that appraisal gets done, and it’s for a much higher value...”

House Democrats push bill to add four seats to Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is "making decisions that usurp the power of the legislative and executive branches," said Rep. Hank Johnson.

Ted Cruz Explains Why Supreme Court Is Unlikely To Overturn Gay Marriage Decision
“And had the Court not ruled in Obergefell, the democratic process would have continued to operate; if you believed gay marriage was a good idea, the way the Constitution set up for you to advance that position is to convince your fellow citizens,” Cruz explained.

CNN Edits Clip Of Cruz Saying Gay Marriage Ruling Was ‘Clearly Wrong’
CNN excluded a portion of a clip Monday in which Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz outlined the consequences of overturning the right to same-sex marriage.

Is Liz Cheney toast?
Cheney's Ahab-like fixation on getting Trump is unpopular in a state where so many voters have a favorable view of the former president.

History in Kentucky as GOP voters overtake Dems
A decade ago, Democrats held the majority of voters and a nearly 525,000 edge in registrations.

Rand Paul unloads on Mitch McConnell and his 'secret deal' with Democrats on judge
“Senator McConnell — he thought it was beneath himself to actually talk to me. Senator McConnell sabotaged this by doing it in secret.”

Nancy Pelosi's team responds to uproar over computer chip stock purchase by husband
"The Speaker does not own any stocks. As you can see from the required disclosures, with which the Speaker fully cooperates, these transactions are marked 'SP' for Spouse."

Economy...

White House Won’t Say Whether U.S. Is Entering a Recession
“I think we can confidently say based on consumer spending, based on payroll employment based on where the unemployment rate is, I think we can confidently say that these numbers that we are posting are very much inconsistent with a recessionary call given where we are now”

White House takes victory lap on sinking gasoline prices
Biden had been blaming Putin and the oil companies for rising prices, but takes full credit for falling prices... BTW, the average gallon of gas is still $4.50.

Border...

Biden’s illegals surge swamps DC
...this brings the total number of illegals caught and released into the U.S. on Biden’s watch to 1,335,959. That is a population larger than nine states.

WAR News... 

Price cap on Russian oil is a ‘ridiculous idea’ and could push oil to $140, says energy research group
The Biden administration wants to put a cap on Russia’s oil prices. “That’s not how the oil market works,” Gal Luft said. “This is a very sophisticated market, you cannot force the prices down.”

The food security crisis could kill more people than COVID has, says Senegal minister at G-20
Urged the global food industry not to boycott the trade of Russian and Ukrainian food products as the food crisis rages on in vulnerable countries.

Zelensky fires top security chief, prosecutor over alleged treason
Fires the country’s security service chief and prosecutor general while accusing dozens of their employees of collaborating with Russia.

Pentagon and Lockheed reach deal to build 375 F-35 fighter jets
The F-35A, the most common version of the jet, currently costs the United States about $79 million, but prices are expected to increase.

COVID-19...

Politico: Fauci wants to put Covid’s politicization behind him
Fauci says he’s prepared for the onslaught of attacks that could come in a Republican-controlled House or Senate next year. “They’re going to try and come after me..."

Commie Update...

China holdings of U.S. debt fall below $1 trillion for the first time since 2010
Japan is now the leading holder of U.S. debt with $1.2 trillion.

Cuba: Pregnant Woman Hospitalized After Police Beatings in Communist Food Line Brawl
A chaotic brawl on a ration line to buy chicken resulted in Cuban state security officials brutalizing civilians and left a pregnant woman hospitalized.

FBI and DHS confirm they are buying Chinese drones despite security concerns
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are purchasing and using Chinese-made drones from a company with close links to the Chinese government.

Entertainment...

Federal prosecutors drop charges against Colbert team members arrested at Capitol
"We do not believe it is probable that the Office would be able to obtain and sustain convictions on these charges. The defendants no longer will be required to appear for a scheduled hearing in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on July 20, 2022."

Sesame Place accused of racism, facing backlash over viral video
The footage shows the Muppet appearing to high-five and hug the other kids around them, but skipping the young black children.

Prince Harry said that he knew Meghan Markle was his “soulmate” in Africa
Harry said Africa is where he’s “found peace and healing time and time again.”

Andrew Schulz’s ‘Infamous’ Offers Crash Course in Taboo Comedy
Renegade comic will joke about anything.

Media...

Pulitzer Prize Defends Award To 2018 Russia Hoaxers
On Sunday, the board released a statement saying the organization stood by its 2018 presentations after years of criticism provoked an “independent” review.

Broken and distrusting: why Americans are pulling away from the daily news
A Reuters Institute survey found that a rising number of people are avoiding the news or just don’t believe it

Man In Underwear Sneaks Through Background Of CNBC Live Shot While Dogs Barking
During a live shot on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” from the home of asset manager Karen Firestone, dogs were barking continuously followed by an unidentified man in his underwear walking through the background.

Europe...

Europe Encouraged To Ration Gas Supplies Ahead Of Winter
The International Energy Agency is calling for widespread energy rationing across Europe due to the continent’s ongoing fuel crisis the agency predicts will be exacerbated by the coming winter months.

Middle East...

Biden’s Plan To ‘Embarrass’ Saudi Arabia Into Getting Green-Pilled Totally Backfired
Biden’s strategy to coax Saudi Arabia into embracing climate-friendly policies backfired during his visit to the region Friday and Saturday.

Fuming families rip Biden, say he did nothing to free US citizen ‘hostages’ in Saudi Arabia
The cases aren’t well-known because the families opted to work quietly with the US government ahead of Biden’s visit.

Environment...

Senate Democrats Urge Biden to Declare a ‘Climate Emergency’
“This ... frees up the president to use the full powers of the executive branch. And those full powers certainly include a climate emergency.”

Sri Lanka Is Just The First To Topple In Globalists’ Green Energy House Of Cards
Riots, famines, societal collapse, and cultural invasion — the globalist agenda has created the perfect storm for national instability.

Paper: Plants Create Their Own Pain Medicine When Stressed
New research from a California university shows that plants create salicylic acid, also known as aspirin, when faced with environmental stress.

Movie Review: Crack in the World (1965)
Scientist use a thermonuclear missile (they launch the missile upside down, into the Earth) to break the crust in order to release magma, which will lead to a future of unlimited green energy!

LGBTQIA2S+...

Feds misquoted SCOTUS to require states to let boys in girls' restrooms, judge says
Purported "guidance" isn't optional for states that risk federal funding by waiting for agencies to "drop the hammer" on them for protecting women's sports, restroom privacy, court says.

Trans Biden Official Wants To ‘Empower’ Kids To Get Sex Changes
Levine said transgender youths are threatened by mental health issues, bullying and political attacks, and that treatment of these youths should affirm their perceived gender identity and empower them to get sex change treatments.

Russia ridicules Biden's trans and non-binary appointees
"Keep going that way, our dear American ex-partners! I don’t think we even need any long-term strategies to counter your malicious role in the world - you are doing the right thing yourselves!"

LGBTQ Nation: “Parental Rights in Education” laws are a form of child abuse
At least 12 other state legislatures are now appropriating the Florida model and are considering similar “Don’t Say Gay” laws.

Who was James Webb? And why do scientists want to rename the James Webb Space Telescope?
Webb was undersecretary of state during the Truman administration when the federal government systematically purged its ranks of LGBTQ employees.

Education...

Planned Parenthood clinic to open in high school if school board approves deal
A California school district board will vote on allowing Planned Parenthood Los Angeles to open and operate a clinic at John Glenn High School in Norwalk.

Black scholar predicts 30 years to erase 'big lie' of '1619' victimhood
“The real story of America is the story of American blacks, not American blacks exclusively, but American blacks as exemplary of what the American promise is,” said William Allen.

Health...

Simple blood test could predict schizophrenia, psychotic attacks - study
Researchers have discovered that brain cells die in a psychotic attack and a simple blood test could make it possible to predict such an event and treat it.

Technology...

GoFundMe allows page for Minnesota gunman after axing one for NYC bodega clerk
GoFundMe is allowing a small fortune to be collected for kin of the Minneapolis gunman fatally shot by cops after he fired at neighbors, while hard-working Manhattan bodega clerk Jose Alba’s fund got the ax.

Poll: Social media makes nearly half of Gen Z and millennials feel negatively about their finances
More than 1 in 3 U.S. adults who have social media say they have felt negatively about their finances after seeing others’ posts. Those feelings included jealousy, inadequacy, anxiety, shame and anger.

Shirtless Elon Musk vacations in Mykonos on luxury yacht
He might want to spend a few dollars on a tanning bed, or just wear a shirt while in the water.

Sports...

Dates announced for 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles
Get your COVID passport ready, because the Olympics are coming to LA. July 14-30, 2028. Plenty of good seats still available.

July 19, 2007 - Glenn battles US Attorney who put border agents Compean & Ramos behind bars... Marcus Luttrell's new book is a #1 bestseller...

July 19, 2010 - Barack says Obamacare won't increase your taxes... Obama changes 'freedom of religion' to 'freedom of worship'... Obama authorizes assassination of US citizen...

Americans expose Supreme Court’s flag ruling as a failed relic

Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Getty Images

In a nation where the Stars and Stripes symbolize the blood-soaked sacrifices of our heroes, President Trump's executive order to crack down on flag desecration amid violent protests has ignited fierce debate. But in a recent poll, Glenn asked the tough question: Can Trump protect the Flag without TRAMPLING free speech? Glenn asked, and you answered—thousands weighed in on this pressing clash between free speech and sacred symbols.

The results paint a picture of resounding distrust toward institutional leniency. A staggering 85% of respondents support banning the burning of American flags when it incites violence or disturbs the peace, a bold rejection of the chaos we've seen from George Floyd riots to pro-Palestinian torchings. Meanwhile, 90% insist that protections for burning other flags—like Pride or foreign banners—should not be treated the same as Old Glory under the First Amendment, exposing the hypocrisy in equating our nation's emblem with fleeting symbols. And 82% believe the Supreme Court's Texas v. Johnson ruling, shielding flag burning as "symbolic speech," should not stand without revision—can the official story survive such resounding doubt from everyday Americans weary of government inaction?

Your verdict sends a thunderous message: In this divided era, the flag demands defense against those who exploit freedoms to sow disorder, without trampling the liberties it represents. It's a catastrophic failure of the establishment to ignore this groundswell.

Want to make your voice heard? Check out more polls HERE.

Labor Day EXPOSED: The Marxist roots you weren’t told about

JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Contributor | Getty Images

During your time off this holiday, remember the man who started it: Peter J. McGuire, a racist Marxist who co-founded America’s first socialist party.

Labor Day didn’t begin as a noble tribute to American workers. It began as a negotiation with ideological terrorists.

In the late 1800s, factory and mine conditions were brutal. Workers endured 12-to-15-hour days, often seven days a week, in filthy, dangerous environments. Wages were low, injuries went uncompensated, and benefits didn’t exist. Out of desperation, Americans turned to labor unions. Basic protections had to be fought for because none were guaranteed.

Labor Day wasn’t born out of gratitude. It was a political payoff to Marxist radicals who set trains ablaze and threatened national stability.

That era marked a seismic shift — much like today. The Industrial Revolution, like our current digital and political upheaval, left millions behind. And wherever people get left behind, Marxists see an opening.

A revolutionary wedge

This was Marxism’s moment.

Economic suffering created fertile ground for revolutionary agitation. Marxists, socialists, and anarchists stepped in to stoke class resentment. Their goal was to turn the downtrodden into a revolutionary class, tear down the existing system, and redistribute wealth by force.

Among the most influential agitators was Peter J. McGuire, a devout Irish Marxist from New York. In 1874, he co-founded the Social Democratic Workingmens Party of North America, the first Marxist political party in the United States. He was also a vice president of the American Federation of Labor, which would become the most powerful union in America.

McGuire’s mission wasn’t hidden. He wanted to transform the U.S. into a socialist nation through labor unions.

That mission soon found a useful symbol.

In the 1880s, labor leaders in Toronto invited McGuire to attend their annual labor festival. Inspired, he returned to New York and launched a similar parade on Sept. 5 — chosen because it fell halfway between Independence Day and Thanksgiving.

The first parade drew over 30,000 marchers who skipped work to hear speeches about eight-hour workdays and the alleged promise of Marxism. The parade caught on across the country.

Negotiating with radicals

By 1894, Labor Day had been adopted by 30 states. But the federal government had yet to make it a national holiday. A major strike changed everything.

In Pullman, Illinois, home of the Pullman railroad car company, tensions exploded. The economy tanked. George Pullman laid off hundreds of workers and slashed wages for those who remained — yet refused to lower the rent on company-owned homes.

That injustice opened the door for Marxist agitators to mobilize.

Sympathetic railroad workers joined the strike. Riots broke out. Hundreds of railcars were torched. Mail service was disrupted. The nation’s rail system ground to a halt.

President Grover Cleveland — under pressure in a midterm election year — panicked. He sent 12,000 federal troops to Chicago. Two strikers were killed in the resulting clashes.

With the crisis spiraling and Democrats desperate to avoid political fallout, Cleveland struck a deal. Within six days of breaking the strike, Congress rushed through legislation making Labor Day a federal holiday.

It was the first of many concessions Democrats would make to organized labor in exchange for political power.

What we really celebrated

Labor Day wasn’t born out of gratitude. It was a political payoff to Marxist radicals who set trains ablaze and threatened national stability.

Kean Collection / Staff | Getty Images

What we celebrated was a Canadian idea, brought to America by the founder of the American Socialist Party, endorsed by racially exclusionary unions, and made law by a president and Congress eager to save face.

It was the first of many bones thrown by the Democratic Party to union power brokers. And it marked the beginning of a long, costly compromise with ideologues who wanted to dismantle the American way of life — from the inside out.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Durham annex EXPOSES Soros, Pentagon ties to Deep State machine

ullstein bild Dtl. / Contributor | Getty Images

The Durham annex and ODNI report documents expose a vast network of funders and fixers — from Soros’ Open Society Foundations to the Pentagon.

In a column earlier this month, I argued the deep state is no longer deniable, thanks to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. I outlined the structural design of the deep state as revealed by two recent declassifications: Gabbard’s ODNI report and the Durham annex released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

These documents expose a transnational apparatus of intelligence agencies, media platforms, think tanks, and NGOs operating as a parallel government.

The deep state is funded by elite donors, shielded by bureaucracies, and perpetuated by operatives who drift between public office and private influence without accountability.

But institutions are only part of the story. This web of influence is made possible by people — and by money. This follow-up to the first piece traces the key operatives and financial networks fueling the deep state’s most consequential manipulations, including the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

Architects and operatives

At the top of the intelligence pyramid sits John Brennan, President Obama’s CIA director and one of the principal architects of the manipulated 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. James Clapper, who served as director of national intelligence, signed off on that same ICA and later joined 50 other former officials in concluding the Hunter Biden laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation” ahead of the 2020 election. The timing, once again, served a political objective.

James Comey, then FBI director, presided over Crossfire Hurricane. According to the Durham annex, he also allowed the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server to collapse after it became entangled with “sensitive intelligence” revealing her plan to tie President Donald Trump to Russia.

That plan, as documented in the annex, originated with Hillary Clinton herself and was personally pushed by President Obama. Her campaign, through law firm Perkins Coie, hired Fusion GPS, which commissioned the now-debunked Steele dossier — a document used to justify surveillance warrants on Trump associates.

Several individuals orbiting the Clinton operation have remained influential. Jake Sullivan, who served as President Biden’s national security adviser, was a foreign policy aide to Clinton during her 2016 campaign. He was named in 2021 as a figure involved in circulating the collusion narrative, and his presence in successive Democratic administrations suggests institutional continuity.

Andrew McCabe, then the FBI’s deputy director, approved the use of FISA warrants derived from unverified sources. His connection to the internal “insurance policy” discussion — described in a 2016 text by FBI official Peter Strzok to colleague Lisa Page — underscores the Bureau’s political posture during that election cycle.

The list of political enablers is long but revealing:

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who, as a former representative from California, chaired the House Intelligence Committee at the time and publicly promoted the collusion narrative while having access to intelligence that contradicted it.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), both members of the “Gang of Eight” with oversight of intelligence operations, advanced the same narrative despite receiving classified briefings.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, exchanged encrypted text messages with a Russian lobbyist in efforts to speak with Christopher Steele.

These were not passive recipients of flawed intelligence. They were participants in its amplification.

The funding networks behind the machine

The deep state’s operations are not possible without financing — much of it indirect, routed through a nexus of private foundations, quasi-governmental entities, and federal agencies.

George Soros’ Open Society Foundations appear throughout the Durham annex. In one instance, Open Society Foundations documents were intercepted by foreign intelligence and used to track coordination between NGOs and the Clinton campaign’s anti-Trump strategy.

This system was not designed for transparency but for control.

Soros has also been a principal funder of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which ran a project during the Trump administration called the Moscow Project, dedicated to promoting the Russia collusion narrative.

The Tides Foundation and Arabella Advisors both specialize in “dark money” donor-advised funds that obscure the source and destination of political funding. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was the biggest donor to the Arabella Advisors by far, which routed $127 million through Arabella’s network in 2020 alone and nearly $500 million in total.

The MacArthur Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation also financed many of the think tanks named in the Durham annex, including the Council on Foreign Relations.

Federal funding pipelines

Parallel to the private networks are government-funded influence operations, often justified under the guise of “democracy promotion” or counter-disinformation initiatives.

USAID directed $270 million to Soros-affiliated organizations for overseas “democracy” programs, a significant portion of which has reverberated back into domestic influence campaigns.

The State Department funds the National Endowment for Democracy, a quasi-governmental organization with a $315 million annual budget and ties to narrative engineering projects.

The Department of Homeland Security underwrote entities involved in online censorship programs targeting American citizens.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

The Pentagon, from 2020 to 2024, awarded over $2.4 trillion to private contractors — many with domestic intelligence capabilities. It also directed $1.4 billion to select think tanks since 2019.

According to public records compiled by DataRepublican, these tax-funded flows often support the very actors shaping U.S. political discourse and global perception campaigns.

Not just domestic — but global

What these disclosures confirm is that the deep state is not a theory. It is a documented structure — funded by elite donors, shielded by bureaucracies, and perpetuated by operatives who drift between public office and private influence without accountability.

This system was not designed for transparency but for control. It launders narratives, neutralizes opposition, and overrides democratic will by leveraging the very institutions meant to protect it.

With the Durham annex and the ODNI report, we now see the network's architecture and its actors — names, agencies, funding trails — all laid bare. What remains is the task of dismantling it before its next iteration takes shape.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The truth behind ‘defense’: How America was rebranded for war

PAUL J. RICHARDS / Staff | Getty Images

Donald Trump emphasizes peace through strength, reminding the world that the United States is willing to fight to win. That’s beyond ‘defense.’

President Donald Trump made headlines this week by signaling a rebrand of the Defense Department — restoring its original name, the Department of War.

At first, I was skeptical. “Defense” suggests restraint, a principle I consider vital to U.S. foreign policy. “War” suggests aggression. But for the first 158 years of the republic, that was the honest name: the Department of War.

A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

The founders never intended a permanent standing army. When conflict came — the Revolution, the War of 1812, the trenches of France, the beaches of Normandy — the nation called men to arms, fought, and then sent them home. Each campaign was temporary, targeted, and necessary.

From ‘war’ to ‘military-industrial complex’

Everything changed in 1947. President Harry Truman — facing the new reality of nuclear weapons, global tension, and two world wars within 20 years — established a full-time military and rebranded the Department of War as the Department of Defense. Americans resisted; we had never wanted a permanent army. But Truman convinced the country it was necessary.

Was the name change an early form of political correctness? A way to soften America’s image as a global aggressor? Or was it simply practical? Regardless, the move created a permanent, professional military. But it also set the stage for something Truman’s successor, President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, famously warned about: the military-industrial complex.

Ike, the five-star general who commanded Allied forces in World War II and stormed Normandy, delivered a harrowing warning during his farewell address: The military-industrial complex would grow powerful. Left unchecked, it could influence policy and push the nation toward unnecessary wars.

And that’s exactly what happened. The Department of Defense, with its full-time and permanent army, began spending like there was no tomorrow. Weapons were developed, deployed, and sometimes used simply to justify their existence.

Peace through strength

When Donald Trump said this week, “I don’t want to be defense only. We want defense, but we want offense too,” some people freaked out. They called him a warmonger. He isn’t. Trump is channeling a principle older than him: peace through strength. Ronald Reagan preached it; Trump is taking it a step further.

Just this week, Trump also suggested limiting nuclear missiles — hardly the considerations of a warmonger — echoing Reagan, who wanted to remove missiles from silos while keeping them deployable on planes.

The seemingly contradictory move of Trump calling for a Department of War sends a clear message: He wants Americans to recognize that our military exists not just for defense, but to project power when necessary.

Trump has pointed to something critically important: The best way to prevent war is to have a leader who knows exactly who he is and what he will do. Trump signals strength, deterrence, and resolve. You want to negotiate? Great. You don’t? Then we’ll finish the fight decisively.

That’s why the world listens to us. That’s why nations come to the table — not because Trump is reckless, but because he means what he says and says what he means. Peace under weakness invites aggression. Peace under strength commands respect.

Trump is the most anti-war president we’ve had since Jimmy Carter. But unlike Carter, Trump isn’t weak. Carter’s indecision emboldened enemies and made the world less safe. Trump’s strength makes the country stronger. He believes in peace as much as any president. But he knows peace requires readiness for war.

Names matter

When we think of “defense,” we imagine cybersecurity, spy programs, and missile shields. But when we think of “war,” we recall its harsh reality: death, destruction, and national survival. Trump is reminding us what the Department of Defense is really for: war. Not nation-building, not diplomacy disguised as military action, not endless training missions. War — full stop.

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

Names matter. Words matter. They shape identity and character. A Department of Defense implies passivity, a posture of reaction. A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

So yes, I’ve changed my mind. I’m for the rebranding to the Department of War. It shows strength to the world. It reminds Americans, internally and externally, of the reality we face. The Department of Defense can no longer be a euphemism. Our military exists for war — not without deterrence, but not without strength either. And we need to stop deluding ourselves.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.