Trump revealed his plan during a White House visit by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, as the topic turned to the recent deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.
"Pete Hegseth has been incredible with the, as I call it, the Department of War," Trump told reporters. "You know, we call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we're going to change the name. You want to know the truth? I think we're going to have some information on that maybe soon."
"Probably that change will be made over the next week or so," he added.
Trump met for the first time Monday with Lee, as both leaders pledged cooperation in trade and defense between the two countries, while speaking to reporters on several occasions.
"Department of Defense, I don't want to be defense only," Trump explained. "We want defense, but we want offense, too."
"It used to be called the Department of War and it had a stronger sound," the president added. "And as you know, we won World War I. We won World War II. We won everything."
Trump has called Hegseth "Secretary of War" on several occasions and has vowed to restore the department's "warrior ethos."
The U.S. Department of War was used from 1789 to 1947, but the name was changed to the Department of Defense as a result of the National Security Act of 1947, which was approved by Congress.
It is unclear whether the president would be allowed to change the department's name back to the Department of War, without congressional approval.
"We won World War I, World War II, and it was called the Department of War. And to me, that's really what it is," Trump said. "Everybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War before we changed it to Department of Defense."
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