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Inside Politics

Trump To Sign Directive Rebranding Dept. Of Defense As "Dept. Of War"; Sources: Trump Aides Are Discussing Making Eric Adams Saudi Ambassador To Clear NYC Mayoral Field Against Mamdani; New Tesla Pay Plan Could Make Musk A Trillionaire, But Only If Tesla Stock Value Skyrockets. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 05, 2025 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[12:30:26]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Does the word defense sound too beta male to you? Well, apparently, it does to the President. In just a few hours, President Trump is expected to sign an executive order rebranding the Department of Defense to the Department of War as a secondary name.

That sounds familiar. It's because it was called the Department of War up until shortly after World War II ended. Last week, President Trump explained why he wants to make the change.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think because, you know, Department of Defense, we won the World War I, World War II. It was called the Department of War. And to me, that's really what it is.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: CNN's Natasha Bertrand is live outside the Pentagon. I think that's keeping its name. It's keeping its shape, so I'm guessing it's going to keep its name. Natasha, all of this is part of the so-called warrior ethos, not just by the President, but by the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, that he's pushing. So what does this executive order actually do?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Dana, this is just another example of the culture war that Secretary of Defense Hegseth is waging here at the Defense Department, as well as President Trump. They have wanted to do this for months now.

And according to the White House fact sheet that was put out about this coming executive order, this is going to be a secondary title for now for the Department of Defense. It's essentially going to authorize the Defense Secretary to call himself the Secretary of War. The Deputy Defense Secretary to do the same.

And to essentially rebrand the department in official communications, in public communications, ceremonial context, as well as non-statutory documents. And so this is essentially going to be a way for the department to rebrand itself. And Secretary of Defense Hegseth actually spoke a little bit about this yesterday to why he feels this is necessary right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Words matter. Titles matter. Cultures matter. And, you know, George Washington founded the War Department. We'll see.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BERTRAND: Now, I'm told that changes to the branding of the Department of Defense are actually expected to happen as soon as today. We could see signs changing around the Pentagon. So stay tuned to what that's actually going to look like.

But it's unclear at this point whether the change can actually happen formally, of course, because that would require an act of Congress. It would require them to legally change the name of the Department of Defense because it was established as such by Congress back in 1949.

The President has said previously that he doesn't think that's going to be a problem. He says he believes Congress will simply go along with it. It remains to be seen whether that's the case, Dana.

BASH: Wouldn't surprise me. It is interesting. As you're talking, I was thinking this is a man who came in again saying, I don't like war. I'm going to end war. And he's rebranding with the word war.

If Congress agrees to this, how much would it cost?

BERTRAND: Yes, so it's totally unclear how much it would cost to replace all of the signage around the world, not only here at the Pentagon, where, you know, you have Department of Defense plastered everywhere, but also at the many military installations around the globe.

So it's unclear. It's like -- it's probably going to cost quite a bit to replace all of the signage and all of the official communications. But at this point, we simply don't have a cost estimate. But, of course, all of these big changes come as the Department has been trying to rein in spending, particularly with the Department of Government Efficiency looking to make cuts, not only, you know, around the federal government, but particularly given the high, high budget that DOD has here at the Department of Defense as well, Dana.

BASH: Natasha, thank you. Whoever walked by you saying you do a good job, I concur. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Up next, why is Eric Adams reportedly cozying up to Team Trump again? The answer could be welcome news to the Cuomo campaign. We'll explain after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:38:57]

BASH: Now it is some MAGA meddling right here in the Big Apple. Sources tell CNN that top Trump aides have approached New York City Mayor Eric Adams about taking a job in the Trump administration in order to get him to end his bid for re-election as mayor.

Now, they say the job could be, emphasize could, ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Now, the goal here is pretty obvious to anybody who is following politics, they want to narrow the field, give Andrew Cuomo a better chance of beating the Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani. It's something the President has made clear he wants.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

TRUMP: I'd prefer not to have a communist mayor of New York City. And, you know, that's what he is based on his policy, if you look at his statements in the past. So I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one-on-one.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: You can take the boy out of New York, Gloria, but you can't take the New York out of the boy.

[12:40:00]

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. And he -- in fact, he cannot resist being involved in his hometown politics. And even though New York City has soundly rejected President Trump over and over, he loves the idea of being able to pull the strings in any kind of way.

Now, while the President didn't say there who he wants to drop out of the race, he did say it should be two people. And to anyone who's been watching this, it's very clear that he is referring to the Republican, Curtis Sliwa, and to the incumbent, New York City Mayor Adams.

Now, we did just get a statement from the mayor in the last hour where he is still insisting that he is staying in this race. But if you read between the lines of this statement, which says, quote, "While I will always listen if called to serve our country, no formal offers have been made. I am still running for re-election, and my full focus is on the safety and the quality of life of every New Yorker."

Dana, if I had to translate that from --

BASH: Yes, please do.

PAZMINO: -- Adam's speak, he is saying, make me an offer --

BASH: Yes.

PAZMINO: -- that I cannot refuse.

BASH: Yes. PAZMINO: And so --

BASH: Did you ever think as a New Yorker, especially you were here during the pandemic, that Donald Trump would be making political moves to help Andrew Cuomo become mayor of New York City? Obviously, there is a reason that he's -- because he doesn't want Mamdani, but huh?

PAZMINO: I would say no, but I would also say this is Trump and this is New York City politics --

BASH: Yes.

PAZMINO: -- so never say never. And all things are possible. The Saudi Arabia job offer seems like it's --

BASH: It'll be one (ph).

PAZMINO: -- potentially on the table, but we should caution that nothing's been finalized and we don't know where this is going to end up. I also think it's important to mention sort of the involvement of Cuomo behind the scenes here.

The former governor insists that he is not involved and that he has not been having any of these conversations. But having covered the former governor for a long time, you know, this is a man who thinks that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

BASH: Yes.

PAZMINO: And he's made it clear --

BASH: That's --

PAZMINO: -- that he believes he can go toe to toe with President Trump. I don't know why they think this could help him in New York. New Yorkers don't really want to see any sort of connection --

BASH: Yes.

PAZMINO: -- or Trump meddling in their election.

BASH: And to -- and then let's sort of talk about the national politics of this, which is there are a lot of Republicans who are chomping at the bit to have somebody who is a Democratic socialist who has the policies on the sort of political sphere that Mamdani has as a foil for Republicans running across the country.

ANNMARIE HORDERN, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG TELEVISION: Absolutely. Especially in New York. You think about --

BASH: So why help them?

HORDERN: -- those seats. You think about all these seats --

BASH: Yes.

HORDERN: -- like a Congressman Lawler. He would love to have Mamdani be the New York City mayor.

BASH (?): Right.

HORDERN: Individuals from his district come in and out of Manhattan all the time. This is just so personal for the President. You know, he votes in Florida, but his heart is in New York. He has financial interests here. He has personal interests here.

We've reported at Bloomberg that also donors, private sector executives, are also putting the pressure on Eric Adams to drop out. So if you're Eric Adams, you're looking at the poll numbers, you're falling, you might want to take an off ramp. And being an ambassador to Saudi Arabia call to serve your country, maybe that means moving to Riyadh, moving to the kingdom, is that is actually a really important job in this Trump administration?

I reported months ago Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, expected to come to the United States the next few months this fall. They've done a ton of deals in this country. It's one of the biggest oil producers in the world. He'd have a really important job. So maybe he's the art of the deal.

BASH: Yes. I mean, I was talking to an official this morning in Trump's political orbit. And I said -- I asked that question. I just asked you to him saying, why would you try to torpedo a guy who you know nationally could help Republicans?

And the answer was, you know, sometimes you just got to do what's right. Also said, obviously, with a very big tongue in cheek. You know, the Bolshevik revolution didn't turn out so well for Russia.

ABBY LIVINGSTON, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: So what I think is the great irony of this is that Trump came up through the Brooklyn Democratic machine. He learned this way of New York City politics. But over on the other side, the actual Democrats.

And a reminder, this is the power center of the Democratic Party, didn't do anything to stop Cuomo, who was not an appetizing alternative to many Democratic voters. And so it's just an ironic twist of history and the weakness of the Democratic Party right now.

ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Three big problems with the anti-Zohran movement. Curtis Sliwa has no plans to drop out. And whether they can pressure Eric Adams to do so is one thing. But the Republican nominee, talked to him this week at the West Indian Day Parade, feels them -- feels himself as an anti-populist and aligned with Zohran Mamdani. He has no plans to drop out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's not friendly with Trump.

HERNDON: It's not friendly with Trump.

BASH: No, not at all.

HERNDON: Two, Andrew Cuomo, as Abby just said, is unpopular and has his own problems running. And if that part of the party would have nominated someone else, there would have been a different position in the first place.

[12:45:03]

So even rallying around, I mean, the prospect that just a couple polls is telling people that Cuomo would beat Mamdani one on one. I think it's just way too much to give that. We have seen evidence. And I think that's the third thing of legitimate Mamdani support, whether that be the matching funds and the money he's raising, whether that be the performance in the primary.

There is a legitimate, I think, collection, a coalition that is supporting him, whether it's a scavenger hunt of 5,000 people showing up. That's a net organic base of support that we have not seen the other candidates have.

And so all I'm saying is that the backroom deals that I think Trump is doing, that kind of top down politics. If that worked, Zohran Mamdani would not be the nominee in the first place.

BASH: Yes.

HERNDON: And so I think we should be very skeptical of that. This maneuvering will impact the general in the way they expect.

BASH: Last, do you -- have any other quick reporting on that?

PAZMINO: And that exact point actually a place exactly into the hands of Zohran Mamdani. And I can tell you that the campaign is very excited about this potential because they feel like this just reinforces their messaging. You have corporate interests, billionaires, Donald Trump trying to get involved in this election.

I'm focused on this message of affordability. This is us versus them. And while Cuomo and Trump world might like to think that maybe this gives them a shot, Mamdani's people seem pretty convinced that this is actually going to happen.

HORDERN: Dana, you might be moderating a debate between Mamdani and President Trump at some point.

BASH: I would love that. I don't think you should hold your breath on that one.

HORDERN: We can help.

BASH: But that would -- but that could be fun.

HORDERN: It's New York.

BASH: You never know. It's New York. Everything happens in New York.

Up next, could Elon Musk become the world's first trillionaire with a T? Tesla's board of directors may make it so.

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(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

[12:51:07]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little while, you'll notice that the Kremakistani (ph) warhead has gone missing. If you want it back, you're going to have to pay me $1 million.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry. $100 billion. Gentlemen --

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BASH: Ah, the sweet Austin Powers days of 1997 when Dr. Evil realized $1 million wasn't enough and now $100 million is pocket change to the wealthiest in America.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk could officially become the first trillionaire with Tesla's newly announced massive $423 million share pay package for the CEO. There is a catch. First, he has to increase Tesla's value to $8.5 trillion.

You see that on the right of your screen. It's far beyond the company's current $1 trillion value. You see on the left. And look at that in the green, that would be double the most valuable company on the market today, which is NVIDIA.

Here's the chair of Tesla's board of directors.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

ROBYN DENHOLM, CHAIR, TESLA BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Coming up with a plan that will incent, motivate, have his time, focus and attention on Tesla. We needed to come up with a plan that was super ambitious.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

HORDERN: Also, he was part of the plan. He met with the board 10 times leading up to this. So he was part of exactly what this pay package could look like. I think it's important to note it takes 10 years to potentially get to this, which would be a massive milestone of $8.5 trillion in market cap.

Also, he has to deliver on a number of other issues, getting deliveries up. They are facing fierce competition, especially in Europe, when it comes to Chinese electric vehicles, BYD, other issues like robo taxis. So there's a number of milestones he has to get to. He did tell Bloomberg in May he plans to be there in five years. And that's what the board wants to hear.

Something else that's really interesting in this pay package. This was the quote directly from the board. "Part of the compensation discussion is that he would receive assurances that Musk's involvement with the political sphere would wind down in a timely manner."

BASH: Ding, ding, ding. HORDERN: AKA stay out of Washington.

BASH: Yes. And here's an example why the board wants him to stay the hell out of politics. Look at Tesla stock, OK? So starting in January, 423.79. And you can see it literally plummet during the time that Elon Musk was in the White House doing DOGE. And then when he left, it started to come back up. But it's still not where it was before the inauguration.

LIVINGSTON: He obviously did incredible damage to the Tesla brand this past winter with DOGE. And obviously this compensation is highly conditional. But in a lot of ways, it does kind of remind me of 2009 when all of the bankers blew up the economy and were getting bonuses, even though they were the ones who caused the problem. And so it's it seems like a dicey political situation.

HERNDON: You know, it's kind of funny. All the money in the world and like what beat Musk back was like Washington bureaucracy, right? Like, you know, I really don't have so many -- I mean, I think it makes clear. I think that's -- to Abby's point, he did do serious brand damage and tied himself more literally to Trump.

I think his removal from politics will come as a welcome sign also to some Republicans who look back and think about things like the Wisconsin state race that happened here. He turned out to be a motivator for the other side and the way that they hadn't seen since Donald Trump himself. So I think not just Democrats -- Democrats might miss him if he winds back from the political scheme (ph).

BASH: These are such big numbers. It's hard to think about them in context. So check this out. These are the countries -- we're talking about one man, we're talking about the countries here that have a GDP of more than $1 trillion -- U.S., China, Germany, and it goes on and on and on and on.

[12:55:03]

Musk would be worth, would be if this all went through. And again, as you said, it's a big if, around $2 trillion, which is more than the countries that you see who -- that are in bold. That's Spain, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, that's surprising, and Poland.

PAZMINO: Just the number, it's like -- it's just so hard to wrap your head around.

BASH: Yes.

PAZMINO: But it is interesting to me to hear that sort of caveat about his political involvement, especially as we see all these other giants of industry sitting next to the President at his events. You know, also all these other massive industries and companies that have brand name and want to protect that brand, when we see what happened to the Tesla brand after Elon Musk was involved in DOGE efforts.

So that's interesting. I don't know what it looks like. But the timeline, I think, and the strings that are attached to it are relevant.

HORDERN: Well, he's also in charge of XAI and he wasn't at the AIA dinner last night. So there's --

BASH: Well.

HORDERN: -- clearly a lot of distance there still between the President and Elon Musk.

BASH: I think it's -- I think bad blood is probably. I didn't want to let the whole show go without quoting Taylor.

All right, thank you all. Have a great weekend.

CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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