US President Donald Trump will declare on Friday the renaming of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, the White House stated, asserting the rebranding would convey a more powerful image.
JUST IN: Donald Trump will sign an executive order Friday to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War, Fox News reports.
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Although the department's official designation is codified in law, Trump is enabling, via a presidential directive, the adoption of the new designation as a "secondary title" by his administration, according to a White House document. Defense personnel may employ "secondary titles such as 'Secretary of War,'...in official correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts, and non-statutory documents within the executive branch," per the document.
It remained unclear immediately when Trump intended to sign the directive, although his public agenda for Friday indicated that he would sign presidential directives during the afternoon and provide statements in the Oval Office.
The president first suggested the concept in June and July, introducing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as "Secretary of War." During another appearance, he argued the modification following World War II resulted from being "politically correct." This week, he specified that a formal statement was anticipated "in the upcoming days." Associates of the president similarly embraced the proposal: Defense Secretary Hegseth observed that "the phrase Department of Defense simply doesn't sound appropriate," and Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah declared he would submit legislation to reinstate the historical designation.
The War Department, formerly known by this designation, was established in 1789 under President George Washington and was responsible for managing the American armed forces. A distinct Navy Department was established in 1798, and this arrangement remained in place through World War II.
President Harry Truman launched a sweeping overhaul of America's security framework in 1947, consolidating the military services within the "National Military Establishment." After two years, in 1949, the statute was revised, and the formal designation was changed to "Department of Defense," a title that has been preserved since that time.
Professor Krister Knapp of Washington University in St. Louis explained that Truman's goal was to establish bureaucratic consolidation for managing the military's hard capabilities, with the primary objective being defense, rather than warfare, which was viewed as an aggressive action following the atrocities of World War II.
