President Donald Trump on Friday signed executive orders in the Oval Office, one of which will rename the Department of Defense the “Department of War.”
Meanwhile, fallout continues from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s fiery Senate hearing, where he clashed with senators on vaccines and shakeups at the CDC.
Trump hosted friendly U.S. House members, and some senators, for dinner to christen the new Rose Garden patio on Friday night — an event he said was a “reward” for the lawmakers’ loyalty in delivering key votes related to his agenda.
“This is a special group, and it is true, there’s not one person in this audience that I had a call to ask for help, that we needed your vote. You’re unbelievable people,” Trump said.
Trump called the new Rose Garden the “Rose Garden Club” that he said would be a “club for senators, for Congress people and for people in Washington.”
Friday night’s gathering was the first event held in the newly renovated patio because Trump’s planned dinner with more than two dozen technology and business leaders on Thursday had to be moved inside due to the rain.
In his remarks, Trump suggested he would be asking the members of Congress for funding to “beautify” Washington, D.C.
“We’re going to fix the roads, we’re going to fix the medians, we’re going to clean up the place,” Trump said.
He also took a victory lap in front of the group over the passage of his landmark policy legislation this summer.
Because he got everything he wanted in the bill, Trump said “We don’t really need any other votes” this session.
“The bill is unbelievable,” he said.
President Trump on Friday was asked to weigh in on Florida’s surgeon general moving to end vaccine mandates in the state, including for children.
“Well, I think we have to be very careful,” Trump said. “Look, you have some vaccines that are so amazing. The polio vaccine I happen to think is amazing. A lot of people think that COVID is amazing. You know, there are many people that believe strongly in that. But you have some vaccines that are so incredible, and I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated. It’s a very tough position.”
The president added, “You have vaccines that work. They just pure and simple work. They’re not controversial at all. And I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it and they endanger other people. And when you don’t have controversy at all, I think people should take them.”
President Trump on Friday announced that next year’s G20 summit will be held in Miami, Florida. Trump later said leaders will gather at his Doral golf property.
The agenda for the summit is being organized by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump said. The annual meeting brings together world leaders to discuss economic issues.
“President Trump’s America First initiative does not mean America alone. It means America leads,” Bessent said in the Oval Office.
Trump said he will not be going to this year’s G20 summit in South Africa. Instead, he said Vice President JD Vance will attend.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense to the “Department of War.”
“I think it’s a much more appropriate name, especially in light of where the world is right now,” Trump said. “We have the strongest military in the world. We have the greatest equipment in the world. We have the greatest manufacturers of equipment by far. There’s nobody to even compete.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the name change was about “restoring the warrior ethos” in the military.
The formal renaming of the department would require Congress to act, but the order is expected to say the new name can be used in official correspondence and ceremonial contexts and non-statutory documents.
Trump was asked if he thought Congress would codify the name change. “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out. But I’m not sure they have to,” he responded.
