In a move that’s sent ripples through military and political circles, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to rebrand the Pentagon as the “Department of War.” Telling reporters in the Oval Office that it was a more “appropriate” name given the current global landscape, Trump asserted, “I think it’s a much more appropriate name, especially in light of where the world is right now. We have the strongest military in the world.”
The order, reportedly obtained by CNN, authorizes the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Defense (DOD), and subordinate officials to immediately begin using secondary titles such as “Secretary of War,” “Department of War,” and “Deputy Secretary of War” in official communications, public statements, and non-statutory executive branch documents.
And the implementation was swift. Signage outside Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office was changed, and the department’s long-standing website, defense.gov, now reroutes to war.gov, proudly displaying “U.S. Department of War” at its header. The familiar acronym DOD is also being replaced with DOW in various official contexts.
Joining the President, Secretary Hegseth framed the change not just as a renaming, but as a “restoring.” He outlined a philosophical shift, stating the military will “go on offense, not just on defense” and, mirrored in the new name, the country will “raise up warriors, not just defenders.”
The executive order also mandates all executive departments and agencies to acknowledge these new secondary titles in their communications. Furthermore, it directs Hegseth to recommend legislative and executive actions to permanently rename the US Department of Defense to the US Department of War. While the fact sheet suggests Congressional approval would be needed for a permanent change, Trump expressed uncertainty, stating, “I don’t know, but we’re going to find out, but I’m not sure they have to.”
This isn’t the first time the department has carried the name “Department of War.” Established by President George Washington, it served as the name of the nation’s military arm for over a century and a half. The shift came in 1949, as part of a broader military reorganization under President Harry Truman. The National Security Act of 1947 had merged the Department of the Navy, the newly created Department of the Air Force, and the Department of the Army (which was previously the Department of War) into the National Military Establishment. This establishment was then renamed the Department of Defense in August 1949, a change that required an act of Congress.
This rebranding effort aligns with a pattern of name changes initiated by Secretary Hegseth. He recently reversed Biden-era decisions to remove Confederate-era names from military bases, reverting to titles like Fort Bragg and Fort Hood, albeit officially naming them after different individuals sharing those names. In June, Hegseth also ordered the renaming of an oiler ship previously named after gay rights activist and Navy veteran Harvey Milk.
The question remains: is this a symbolic shift towards a more aggressive foreign policy, a restoration of a historical identity, or simply a semantic rebranding? And will President Trump’s executive order truly bypass Congress in making this momentous change permanent? The “Department of War” has returned, and with it, a new chapter in the debate over America’s military identity.
