'Parade of absurdities': Trump's defense rebrand disturbs analyst

President Donald Trump's efforts to rename the Department of Defense reveal a "bedrock view" of the administration, according to one analyst.

Trump recently mused that he wants to rename the Department of Defense as the "War Department." Some experts have said Trump can't rename the department without an act of Congress, although Trump has indicated that he might "do it anyway."

Ken Klippenstein, co-founder of KlipNews on Substack, wrote in an essay on Wednesday that these efforts show just how important performance is for Trump administration officials.

"Though I want to ridicule it, the rebrand hints at a bedrock view of the administration: that success is downstream from appearances," Klippenstein wrote. "For Trump and many of his top officials, political change grows out of the barrel of a blowdryer."

Klippenstein added that this view can be "lost in the parade of absurdities and creepiness" of some of the administration's actions, such as the troop deployment to Washington, D.C., and the multiple photo-ops of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. working out.

"It is a real thing, for the administration anyway: From Hegseth to Kristi Noem constantly dressing up in tactical gear to every ICE agent sporting a uniform and a facemask, presentation is genuinely at the core of what this administration believes," Klippenstein wrote.

"Again, I’m inclined to just roll my eyes, but it’s a mistake to dismiss this all as mere theater," the essay continued. "These guys really believe in presentation."

Read the entire essay by clicking here.