President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a move that the administration says better reflects the mission of those serving in uniform—but mostly feels like a pointless name change.
“Restoring the name ‘Department of War’ will sharpen the focus of this Department on our national interest and signal to adversaries America’s readiness to wage war to secure its interests,” according to a document describing the forthcoming order obtained by The Washington Post.
Trump has been teasing the change for weeks.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s title might soon change to “secretary of war.”
“We call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we’re going to change the name,” he said in August. “We won the World War 1, World War 2—it was called the Department of War, and to me, that’s really what it is. Defense is a part of that, but I have a feeling we’re going to be changing.”
It’s worth noting that Trump’s claim isn’t historically accurate. The “Department of War” only ever referred to what is now the Army, not the entire Defense Department. So this isn’t really a restoration—it’s more of a cosmetic change.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hinted at the move during a commencement speech at Fort Benning, telling new military officers that his job title “may be a slightly different title tomorrow.”
But there are real legal and logistical questions here. The department’s name was created by Congress in 1789 and officially changed to the Department of Defense in 1949, with each change requiring legislation.
But you wouldn’t know that from some of Fox News’ breathless coverage, which treated it as if Trump could wave a pen and rename the Pentagon overnight. In reality, his order seems designed to sidestep Congress by allowing “Department of War” as a secondary title in correspondence, public communications, ceremonies, and executive branch documents. This clever workaround avoids a fight on Capitol Hill, but it doesn’t actually change the law.
Even if it’s legal, it won’t be cheap. The Defense Department’s seal appears on hundreds of buildings and installations worldwide. Swapping out signage, letterhead, and digital branding could cost tens of millions of dollars—but Trump has never been shy about spending big on symbolism.
The Navy oiler ship previously named after LGBTQ+ icon Harvey Milk was renamed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in June.
President Joe Biden’s effort to strip Confederate names from bases cost more than $60 million—an effort that Hegseth later reversed by reinstating the old names but tying them to new honorees with the same surnames.
Critics say this latest proposed name change does nothing to strengthen the military.
“American military supremacy has eroded as China has sprinted to field combat forces that they hope can defeat the United States military in the Pacific. Changing the name of the Department of Defense won’t help with that,” Brad Bowman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Post, adding that the money would be better spent on training and equipping troops.
Hegseth, a former National Guard officer and Fox News personality, has reportedly been pushing the idea since a White House meeting in March when Trump told him, “You look more like a secretary of war.”
He’s also made it a personal crusade—restoring Confederate base names and even ordering a Navy oiler ship named for gay rights icon Harvey Milk to be stripped of its name earlier this summer.
Whether this actually does anything beyond grabbing headlines is still up in the air. What’s obvious, though, is that Trump treats moves like this as political theater—even when they cost a lot and accomplish almost nothing.
