Trump to Revert Department of Defense's Name to 'Department of War'

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday, renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War.

The Details: The expected change was first reported by Fox News (Right bias), and according to a White House official, the new name would act as a secondary title to the Department of Defense. It is yet unclear whether Congress would be required to implement a permanent change to the name, but the order instructs Hegseth to pursue legislative and executive actions to make the change permanent.

For Context: The new name is not so new. Congress, under President George Washington, first established the Department of War in 1789, and it was not changed until after World War II, when President Harry S. Truman changed the name as part of the National Security Act in 1947. “We had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War,” according to Trump, saying “Defense is too defensive” and “we want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too if we have to be.” The change would also rename Pete Hegseth’s title from Secretary of Defense to Secretary of War, with Hegseth saying, “we think words and names and titles matter” and “we’ve reestablished at the Department the warrior ethos.” Hegseth polled the name change on X in March, and the Department of War received 54.3% of the vote.

How The Media Covered It: The New York Times (Lean Left) said the measure has been expected for some time, and “underscores” Trump’s efforts to project “strength, rather than the ‘wokeness’ that he and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claim clouded the military’s morale and mission under President Biden.” Fox News highlighted the “warrior ethos” mentality shared by Trump and Hegseth, while noting the change would include renaming the public affairs briefing room to the “Pentagon War Annex.” Straight Arrow News (Center) noted that Trump doesn’t “technically” have the legal authority to change the name in a binding way, mentioning Trump’s confidence that if he does, “lawmakers will support him anyway.”   

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