President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Defense to adopt the secondary title “Department of War”, reviving the name that the agency held until 1949.
The move, announced Friday by the White House, allows Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to refer to himself as “Secretary of War” in official communications and ceremonies. Hegseth confirmed the change on X, posting the words “DEPARTMENT OF WAR” without further comment.
Why Trump Made the Change
Mr. Trump had floated the idea in June, saying the post–World War II name change to “Department of Defense” was made to sound “politically correct.”
“Everybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War,” he told reporters last month. “Then we changed it to Department of Defense. Defense is too defensive. And we want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too, if we have to be.”
Similarly, Defense Secretary Hegseth via Fox News, said the department should reflect a “warrior ethos” and that names matter because “we want warriors, folks that understand how to exact lethality on the enemy.”
Historical Context
The Pentagon, as the department is commonly known, was originally called the Department of War from 1789. Following the restructuring of U.S. military command after World War II, it became the National Military Establishment in 1947 before being renamed the Department of Defense in 1949 to show America’s role in peacekeeping and nuclear-era deterrence.
However, analysts estimate the rebranding could cost tens of millions of dollars, as new signage, letterheads, and insignia would need to be produced for Pentagon offices and U.S. military bases worldwide.
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, a veteran and member of the Armed Services Committee, criticized the decision: “Why not put this money toward supporting military families or toward employing diplomats that help prevent conflicts from starting in the first place?”
Others argue the change could undermine America’s diplomatic posture by signaling aggression at a time of heightened global tensions.
This is not the first time Trump has issued renaming orders. He previously attempted to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and reverted Alaska’s Denali mountain to its older name of Mount McKinley; both changes met with rejection from local authorities and foreign governments.
Meanwhile, thousands of U.S. troops are currently deployed to waters near Venezuela, tensions continue with China in the Pacific, and Russia has warned that Western troops in Ukraine would be treated as targets.
Permanently renaming the Pentagon will require an act of Congress. For now, the “Department of War” designation will operate as a parallel title under Trump’s executive order.
