Flanked by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth at a signing ceremony at the White House, the Republican president said the current name that had been in place for more than 70 years was too "wokey."
"I think it sends a message of victory," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about the rebranding. "It's a much more appropriate name in light of where the world is right now."
The name harks back to the War Department, the title used for more than 150 years from 1789, just after independence from Britain, to 1947, shortly after World War II.
Trump cannot formally change the name of the Pentagon without the approval of Congress -- but the 79-year-old's order authorizes the use of the new label as a "secondary title."
Former Fox News host Hegseth swiftly embraced the change, posting a video of a new nameplate saying "Secretary of War" being stuck to his door at the Pentagon.
The combat veteran, named by Trump to lead a major overhaul of the sprawling department, said the change was "not just about renaming, it's about restoring the warrior ethos."
"Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We're going to raise up warriors, not just defenders," said Hegseth.
Trump meanwhile even appeared to blame America's military misadventures since its victories in World Wars I and II on the decision to call it the Department of Defense, which was made in 1949.
"We could have won every war, but we really chose to be very politically correct or wokey," said Trump, who was signing the 200th executive order of his second term.
- Too 'defensive' -
The rebranding forms part of a wider bid by Trump to project power and potency at home and abroad in his second term, as part of his "Make America Great Again" policy.
Trump has in particular ordered a US military build-up in the Caribbean to counter what he calls drug cartels led by Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro. US forces killed 11 people in a strike on what Washington said was a drug-carrying boat earlier this week.
Trump also ordered a US military strike on Iranian nuclear sites in June.
Domestically he has deployed the US National Guard in the capital Washington and Los Angeles in recent months in what he has called a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration.
Trump's "Department of War" move could also be seen to be at odds with his campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize for what he says is his role in ending a number of conflicts -- he has variously said six and seven.
Democrats have called the move a costly political stunt by the billionaire.
The White House is yet to say how much a rebrand would cost, but US media expect a billion-dollar price tag for the overhaul of hundreds of agencies, emblems, email addresses and uniforms.
A Pentagon official told AFP the "cost estimate will fluctuate as we carry out President Trump's directive to establish the Department of War's name. We will have a clearer estimate to report at a later time."
Trump had trailed the announcement for several weeks. He complained that the name Department of Defense was too "defensive" and made America look weak.
Hegseth meanwhile has lambasted prior administrations for policies he and Trump have derided as "woke."
Notably, he has sought to expel transgender troops from the military and change the names of bases that honored Confederate troops back to their original titles, after they were renamed under former president Joe Biden.
The War Department was established in August 1789 to oversee the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, according to an official Pentagon history web page. The Navy and Marines split off a decade later.
Key facts about Trump's 'Department of War' -- aka the Defense Dept
Washington (AFP) Sept 5, 2025 -
President Donald Trump is rebranding the Defense Department as the Department of War -- a name used when it had more limited responsibilities for US Army forces rather than the entire military.
The Defense Department was established after World War II by an act of Congress, meaning that Trump likely lacks the authority to unilaterally change its official name.
To avoid that issue, the White House said the president is authorizing the use of the new label as a "secondary title" by his administration.
Here is a look at key facts about the history of the departments overseeing the United States military.
- More than 200 years old -
The War Department was established in August 1789 to oversee the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, according to an official Pentagon history web page.
A little less than a decade later, responsibility for naval forces was transferred to the new Department of the Navy, which also gained responsibility for the US Marine Corps in 1834.
That left the War Department responsible for the Army, and later for the Army Air Corps -- the precursor of the Air Force.
- Reorganized after WWII -
The War Department underwent a major reorganization -- and name change -- following World War II.
The changes began with the signing of the National Security Act by then president Harry Truman in July 1947.
The legislation merged the War and Navy Departments as well as the Air Force into the "National Military Establishment" led by a defense secretary.
The National Security Act was amended in August 1949 to change the name of the National Military Establishment to the Department of Defense.
It also removed the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force from cabinet positions and made them subordinate to the defense secretary.
- Headquartered at the Pentagon -
The US Defense Department is headquartered at the Pentagon, a massive five-sided building located in Virginia on the Potomac River.
Construction of the building was authorized due to space constraints in the run-up to World War II, with personnel of what was then known as the War Department split between more than a dozen buildings at the time and the number of staff expected to grow.
Ground was broken on the Pentagon in September 1941 and it officially opened 16 months later in January 1943. The Defense Department is now the largest employer in the United States, with more than three million military and civilian personnel.
Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
