Evidence is incomplete or still developing; a future update may resolve it. Learn more in Methodology.
Secretary of War is directed by the EO to identify contractors meeting the listed criteria.
Available reporting on President Donald Trump’s January 7, 2026 executive order about defense contractors and stock buybacks confirms that the order seeks to restrict shareholder payouts by underperforming defense firms and ties those restrictions to metrics such as production performance, on‑time delivery, and investment in capacity. However, as of this date there is no publicly accessible primary text of the executive order or Federal Register publication specifying the exact directive language or the designated cabinet official, and major coverage instead refers generally to the Department of Defense or the Pentagon, not a “Secretary of War.” Because the full, authoritative text of the order is not yet available, it is not possible to conclusively verify whether the order literally “directs the Secretary of War” to identify contractors fitting all of the described criteria, so the claim’s precision cannot be confirmed at this time. Therefore, the verdict is Unclear due to the lack of primary documentation and potentially inaccurate terminology about the responsible official.