Trump executive order aims to rename the Department of Defense as the
Department of War
[September 06, 2025]
By CHRIS MEGERIAN, SEUNG MIN KIM and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize,
President Donald Trump sent a sharply different message on Friday when
he signed an executive order aimed at rebranding the Department of
Defense as the Department of War.
Trump said the switch was intended to signal to the world that the
United States was a force to be reckoned with, and he complained that
the Department of Defense’s name was “woke.”
“I think it sends a message of victory. I think it sends, really, a
message of strength,” Trump said of the change as he authorized the
Department of War as a secondary title for the Pentagon.
Congress has to formally authorize a new name, and several of Trump’s
closest supporters on Capitol Hill proposed legislation earlier Friday
to codify the new name into law.
But already there were cosmetic shifts. The Pentagon’s website went from
“defense.gov” to “war.gov.” Signs were swapped around Hegseth’s office
while more than a dozen employees watched. Trump said there would be new
stationery, too.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom Trump has begun referring to as the
“secretary of war,” said during the signing ceremony that “we’re going
to go on offense, not just on defense,” using “maximum lethality” that
won’t be “politically correct.”
The attempted rebranding was another rhetorical salvo in Trump's efforts
to reshape the U.S. military and uproot what he has described as
progressive ideology. Bases have been renamed, transgender soldiers have
been banned and websites have been scrubbed of posts honoring
contributions by women and minorities to the armed forces.
He's also favored aggressive — critics say illegal — military action
despite his criticism of “endless wars” under other administrations. He
frequently boasts about the stealth bomber strike on Iran's nuclear
facilities, and he recently ordered the destruction of a boat that the
U.S. says was carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela.
The Republican president insisted that his tough talk didn't contradict
his fixation on being recognized for diplomatic efforts, saying peace
must be made from a position of strength. Trump has claimed credit for
resolving conflicts between India and Pakistan; Rwanda and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Armenia and Azerbaijan, among
others. (He's also expressed frustration that he hasn't brought the war
between Russia and Ukraine to a conclusion as fast as he wanted.)
“I think I've gotten peace because of the fact that we’re strong,” Trump
said, echoing the “peace through strength” motto associated with
President Ronald Reagan
When Trump finished his remarks on the military, he dismissed Hegseth
and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from the
room.
“I’m going to let these people go back to the Department of War and
figure out how to maintain peace,” Trump said.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube proposed legislation in the House to
formally change the name of the department.
“From 1789 until the end of World War II, the United States military
fought under the banner of the Department of War,” Steube, an Army
veteran, said in a statement. “It is only fitting that we pay tribute to
their eternal example and renowned commitment to lethality by restoring
the name of the ‘Department of War’ to our Armed Forces.”
Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, are introducing
companion legislation in the Senate.
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A new sign hangs at the Pentagon after President Donald Trump signed
an executive order aiming to rename the Department of Defense the
Department of War in Washington, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP
Photo/Mike Pesoli)
The Department of War was created in 1789, then renamed and
reorganized through legislation signed by President Harry Truman in
1947, two years after the end of World War II. The Department of
Defense incorporated the Department of War, which oversaw the Army,
plus the Department of the Navy and the newly created independent
Air Force.
Hegseth complained that “we haven't won a major war since” the name
was changed. Trump said, “We never fought to win.”
Trump and Hegseth have long talked about restoring the Department of
War name.
In August, Trump told reporters that “everybody likes that we had an
unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then
we changed it to Department of Defense.”
When confronted with the possibility that making the name change
would require an act of Congress, Trump told reporters that “we’re
just going to do it.”
“I’m sure Congress will go along,” he said, “if we need that.”
Trump and Hegseth have been on a name-changing spree at the
Pentagon, sometimes by sidestepping legal requirements.
For example, they wanted to restore the names of nine military bases
that once honored Confederate leaders, which were changed in 2023
following a congressionally mandated review.
Because the original names were no longer allowed under law, Hegseth
ordered the bases to be named after new people with similar names.
For example, Fort Bragg now honors Army Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a
World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient from Maine,
instead of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.
In the case of Fort A.P. Hill, named for Confederate Lt. Gen.
Ambrose Powell Hill, the Trump administration was forced to choose
three soldiers to make the renaming work.
The base now honors Union soldiers Pvt. Bruce Anderson and 1st Sgt.
Robert A. Pinn, who contributes the two initials, and Lt. Col.
Edward Hill, whose last name completes the second half of the base
name.
The move irked Republicans in Congress who, in July, moved to ban
restoring any Confederate names in this year’s defense authorization
bill.
Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican who co-sponsored the
earlier amendment to remove the Confederate names, said that “what
this administration is doing, particularly this secretary of
defense, is sticking his finger in the eye of Congress by going back
and changing the names to the old names.”
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Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.
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