Afrasianet - U.S. President Donald Trump has called a "military operation" rather than "war" to avoid the need for congressional approval, giving him the freedom to act and engage in direct conflicts (such as Iran) without legal or political obligations imposed by official declarations of war.
Detailed reasons behind this trend:
• Circumventing Congress: Trump bluntly: "I describe it as a military operation so I don't need any approvals, but if it's a war, you have to get congressional approval."
• Avoiding the "suspicion" of war: Trump seeks to avoid domestic criticism associated with the consequences of long conventional wars.
• Highlighting military success: Trump prefers to describe what is happening as "operation" or "military destruction" to show control and quick success in achieving his country's goals without getting into the quagmire of all-out war.
• Offensive connotations: In another context (September 2025), Trump used an offensive tone by renaming the "Department of Defense" to the "War Department" to enhance the image of the force, but he still prefers to call individual confrontations "operations."
In short, a military operation allows the White House "flexibility and speed in military decision-making" without strict legal restrictions.
But what Trump is saying: He prefers to use the term "military operation" in Iran rather than "war" to describe what the United States is doing, considering that his country is achieving "tremendous success" in Iran.
Speaking at the annual dinner of the Republican National Committee, Trump added that they "want to distract from all the tremendous success we are having in this military operation," referring to critics of the United States' involvement in a war against Iran.
"I wouldn't use the word war, because they say if I use the word war it might not be a good thing," he said.
"They don't like the word war because it's supposed to get (Congress) approval. So I will use the word military operation, which is what it really is."
"It's called military destruction, but they don't like good publicity, they don't like to see us succeed," he said.
Ramp signs a presidential decree changing the name of the Ministry of Defense to "War" and mentions why!
It is worth mentioning that US President Donald Trump announced the renaming of the US Department of Defense to the Ministry of War, stressing that this reflects the state of the situation in the world.
Trump said at the White House that "we will have a War Department and a War Department."
He signed a decree renaming the Commission during his presidency.
Trump called the Defense Department "liberal," while the War Department is "more appropriate given the situation in the world."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Higgseth noted that since the War Department was renamed in 1947, the U.S. has not won any major conflict.
The resolution obliges all agencies to recognize the new designation and adopt it in internal and external communications. Although Trump has repeatedly hinted at his desire to return to the name of the War Department, the move has sparked controversy over the reasons and motives, the legal bases on which it is based, its repercussions, and its potential effects.
