WASHINGTON, DC (LOOTPRESS) – President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Friday that would begin the process of restoring the Pentagon’s former name: the Department of War. The change would revive a title that was retired more than 75 years ago in the aftermath of World War II.
According to a White House fact sheet, the order will allow the Department of Defense to begin using “Department of War” as an alternative name. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth would also be permitted to use the title “Secretary of War.” Other federal agencies will be instructed to recognize both titles in official correspondence and documentation.
The order further directs Hegseth to recommend legislative and executive steps to make the renaming permanent, although the Department of Defense remains the agency’s legal designation under federal law.
White House officials argue the change is meant to project strength. “The United States military is the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world,” the fact sheet states, adding that the president believes “this Department should have a name that reflects its unmatched power and readiness to protect national interests.”
Trump has long expressed dissatisfaction with the current title, calling it “too defensive” and suggesting it reflected what he views as political correctness in the postwar era. “We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive, too, if we have to be,” he said last week.
The White House has not yet provided an estimate of how much a permanent rebranding might cost—a change that could involve new signage, uniforms, stationery, and digital infrastructure.
The War Department was one of the nation’s earliest cabinet agencies, overseeing the Army from the 1790s through World War II. Alongside the Navy Department, it formed the backbone of U.S. military leadership until 1947, when President Harry Truman pressed Congress to streamline the armed services under a single Department of Defense. The official name change to “Department of Defense” was finalized in 1949, reflecting a desire to emphasize security and coordination rather than warfare in the postwar era.
If Trump’s initiative succeeds, it would mark the first time since the Truman administration that the United States has operated under a “Department of War.”
