The Department of Defense (DOD) faced a tough welcome on Bluesky when it launched a “Department of War” account on the social media platform.
The account, which made its first post at 6:16 p.m. ET, announced its arrival on the app and tagged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying he should “thank PRESIDENT TRUMP and SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH for making sure EVERY military kid still has health care during your Democrat Shutdown.”
But users immediately responded with mockery: The first comment on the post responded several times asking about the Jeffrey Epstein files and when they would be released—and it didn’t stop there.
Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon for comment via email outside normal business hours Friday night.
Why It Matters
The military and Defense Secretary Hegseth already have a healthy and active presence on X, which is owned by Elon Musk, President Donald Trump’s former senior adviser. The X account has existed since 2009, and the Pentagon has had some presence on other platforms, like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
The Pentagon’s X account has 6.7 million followers, while the official Defense Secretary account has around 877,000 and Hegseth’s personal account has 1.7 million.
While those platforms have hundreds of millions of followers, Bluesky still has a relatively small user base. The Pentagon has not made an account on Threads, for instance, which has around 350 million users, compared with BlueSky’s estimated 38 million.
The Pentagon has not indicated whether it will create accounts on other platforms.
What To Know
As of 10:45 p.m. ET, the “Department of War” Bluesky account had 800 followers and just the one post, which garnered 306 comments, 320 likes and 123 reposts.
Those comments, however, have been far from kind, as users took the opportunity to clarify their stance on the Trump administration and, specifically, the DOD and Hegseth.
Most of the comments continued to demand release of the files on Epstein, a sex offender who had a history with Trump, while others took issue with the choice to use the “Department of War” title, with user KristineKenyon pointing out that any official name change needs “an act of Congress.”
User NeonBunny piled on, saying that he missed “when our focus was on DEFENSE. Now it’s WAR?” and argued the only deployments seen recently have been “on Americans of all people.”
User EdHirschler added that “There is no Department of War. Its real name is the Department of Defense. Stop spreading Trump’s propaganda.”
Some users tried to directly insult Hegseth, raising allegations of a drinking problem, which was a high-profile focus during his Senate confirmation process—allegations Hegseth has denied.
Users also raised the Signal messaging app scandal, with user doobiedawg asking, “Is this where we come for the war plans or is that still offered over on signal?”
Not all comments were negative, however: User jenniefromtheblock wrote her thanks to have “a real president,” while user jeggraberbones25 simply called the department “Patriots.”
The vast majority of comments, however, were negative, and continued to be so at the time of publication.
Trump’s Focus on Image and Presentation
Hegseth has spearheaded an image overhaul of the DOD, including Trump’s order to adopt the new name as “Department of War.” The defense secretary and president also summoned hundreds of military commanders and leaders to Virginia at the end of September to discuss the direction of America’s fighting force, including a directive for all members of the military to achieve certain levels of physical fitness.
The secretary in his speech to military command stressed a focus on “warrior ethos” and “peace through strength.”
“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations or really any formation and see fat troops,” Hegseth said. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It’s a bad look.”
Trump also renamed a number of institutions and places around the country, including the now-famous renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and returning several military bases to their names before changes were instituted in response to racial injustice protests.
