Pentagon rebranding: Trump signs new order to rename Dept of Defense as ‘Dept of War’

Trump’s move represented his latest effort to rebrand the US military, which also includes his decision to preside over an extraordinary military parade in downtown Washington, DC, as well as to restore the original names of military bases that were changed after racial justice protests in 2020, the report stated.

“It’s a very important change, because it’s an attitude,” Trump said as he signed the executive order at a ceremony in the Oval Office a day earlier. “It’s really about winning.”

Following the order, the Pentagon swiftly changed signs at the US military’s five-sided headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, switching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s title on his door to “Secretary of War” and the title of his No. 2, Steve Feinberg, to the “Deputy Secretary of War,” as per Reuters.

Trump said there would be new stationery, too, AP reported.

The move, as highlighted in the report, would instruct Hegseth to recommend legislative and executive actions required to make the renaming permanent.

Trump has also challenged conventional norms over domestic deployment of the US armed forces, creating military zones along the southern US border with Mexico to aid an immigration crackdown as well as deploying troops in cities like Los Angeles and Washington, Reuters noted.

As per an AP report, the Pentagon’s website went from “defense.gov” to “war.gov.”

“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, AP quoted. After finishing his remarks on the military, Trump 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.

Reactions to the changes

While Department name changes are rare and have required congressional approval, Trump, before announcing his decision, questioned whether he really needed a nod from Congress, even though his fellow Republicans hold slim majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, the Reuters report stated.

Defense Secretary Hegseth, introduced as the “Secretary of War” by Trump, supported the change, which he had advocated for long. “We’re going to go on the offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality,” Reuters quoted Hegseth.

Hegseth said that changing the name is “not just about words — it’s about the warrior ethos.”

Process of changing names

The US Department of Defense was called the War Department until 1949, when Congress consolidated the Army, Navy and Air Force in the wake of World War Two.

As quoted by Reuters, historians say the name was chosen in part to signal that in the nuclear age, and the US was focused on preventing conflict.

Two Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida, and one Republican House member, Greg Steube of Florida, introduced the legislation to make the changes on Friday.

“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, as quoted by AP. “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.”

Changing the name now will be costly and require updating signs and letterheads used not only by officials at the Pentagon, but also military installations around the world, Reuters stated.

For instance, an effort by former President Joe Biden to rename nine bases that honored the Confederacy and Confederate leaders was set to cost the Army $39 million. It was reversed by Hegseth this year.

Critics have, meanwhile, said the planned name change is not only costly, but an unnecessary distraction for the Pentagon.

Trump’s past efforts at changing names

This year, one of Trump’s closest congressional allies, Republican US House of Representatives Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, introduced a bill that would make it easier for a president to re-organize and rename agencies.

“We’re just going to do it. I’m sure Congress will go along if we need that … Defense is too defensive. We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too if we have to be,” Trump had said last month.

Trump also mentioned the possibility of a name change in June, when he suggested that the name was originally changed to be “politically correct.”

The decision is a part of Trump’s efforts to reshape the US military and uproot what he describes as a “progressive ideology,” AP noted, adding that during his term, military 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.

During Trump’s first term, current FBI Director Kash Patel, who was briefly at the Pentagon, had a sign-off on his emails that read: “Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense & the War Department.”

“I view it as a tribute to the history and heritage of the Department of Defense,” Patel had told Reuters in 2021.