President Trump is set to sign an executive order on Friday that will bring back the old "Department of War" name as a secondary title for the Department of Defense. The President and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have suggested in recent days that they want the Pentagon's name changed back to the "Department of War."
They say the move is part of the president's push to promote a "warrior ethos" inside the Defense Department. Trump, 79, has argued that the old name "sounds stronger" and is "far more appropriate" for the Cabinet-level department. A White House official has since confirmed that Trump will roll out the name change on Friday
To Promote 'Warrior Ethos'
The order will direct Hegseth to put forward both legislative and executive actions to officially rename the Department of Defense as the "U.S. Department of War." It will also allow Hegseth to use the title "Secretary of War" in official letters, public statements, ceremonies, and other non-legal documents.
All federal departments and agencies will be required to "recognize and accommodate" the new secondary titles in their communications.
A White House official said the executive order will require the government to update its websites and change signage at the Pentagon — including renaming the press briefing room as the "Pentagon War Annex."
The U.S. called its military agency the Department of War until 1949, when the National Security Act of 1947 led to it being renamed the Department of Defense.
"The United States military is the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world, and the President believes this Department should have a name that reflects its unmatched power and readiness to protect national interests," read a White House fact sheet on the upcoming order.
What's In a Name
The name change is meant to project "strength and resolve" while supporting Trump's "peace through strength" approach, according to the White House. Last month, the president voiced his frustration in the Oval Office about the Department of Defense's current name.
"Everybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War," he told reporters on August 25. "Then we changed it to Department of Defense.
"'Defense' is too defensive," Trump argued. "We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive, too if we have to be."
Hegseth has backed the name change as well, even going so far as to call himself the Secretary of War. "We won WWI, and we won WWII, not with the Department of Defense, but with... the Department of War," he said in an interview Wednesday on Fox & Friends.
"As the president has said, we're not just defense, we're offense."
At least one member of Congress has already pledged to introduce a bill backing the move to rename the Defense Department.
"I'm drafting a bill to restore the Department of War to its original name— the only name that captures the full range of America's military capabilities," Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote on X last month.
"The executive order will mark the 200th Trump has signed since taking office, according to the White House."
