Trump says to those who attack America, 'we will hunt you down'

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday to those who attack America that "we will hunt you down."

"If you attack the United States of America, we will hunt you down and we will find you. We will crush you without mercy, and we will triumph without question," Trump said at a ceremony commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"We won the first World War. We won the Second World War. We won everything before that and in between,” he continued.

“And then we decided to change the name," he said, turning to his order to rebrand the Defense Department to its former name, the “Department of War.”

"Well now we have it back to where we all won it," he added.

On Friday, Trump signed an executive order to rebrand the Defense Department to its pre-World War II name.

The order designates "Department of War" as a secondary title for the agency and "secretary of war" as a secondary title for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as he is officially known.

The Department of War operated from 1789 to 1947, when it was reorganized under the National Security Act and became the Defense Department in 1949.

Though Trump has ordered signs, websites, and the like to bear the old name, Congress must act for a name change to be official.

Trump has told reporters he was confident Congress, where Trump’s Republican Party currently holds a majority in both houses, would support the idea.