Washington DC - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday announced an end to the Women, Peace and Security program, mistakenly calling it a "Biden initiative" despite its Trump origins.

"This morning, I proudly ENDED the 'Women, Peace & Security' (WPS) program inside the @DeptofDefense," Hegseth announced in a rambling post on X.

"WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops – distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING."

The WPS was an initiative introduced to the Department of Defense (DOD) by President Donald Trump during his first term and supported by both his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

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WPS' goal was to advance women's participation in peace-building and conflict prevention around the world. It focused on getting women better involved in the resolution process as well as the provision of post-conflict relief.

The original act was written by current Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and has long been cited as one of Trump's biggest accomplishments in his 2017-2021 term.

Despite this, Hegseth called the WPS a "UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists," and vowed to end the program in the DOD's next budget.

Due to the fact that the WPS is under federal statute, Hegseth doesn't actually have the authority to end the program outright.

Having realized his mistake, Hegseth backtracked on some of his accusations in a follow-up post on X, but confirmed that the shutdown will still go ahead.

"The woke & weak Biden Administration distorted & weaponized the straight-forward & security-focused WPS initiative launched in 2017," Hegseth said.

"So – yes – we are ending the “woke divisive/social justice/Biden (WPS) initiative."