A view of the Pentagon on Dec. 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C. President Trump has said he would like to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War.
Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images
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Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump will sign an executive order on Friday to give the Department of Defense a new name: the Department of War.
The change would return the department to a name that it carried for much of its history, until it became the Department of Defense in the wake of World War II. The executive order was confirmed to NPR by a White House official who was not authorized to discuss the matter.
A White House fact sheet explains that under the executive order, the name “Department of War” will serve as a “secondary title” for the Department of Defense.
According to the fact sheet, the order will also authorize Defense Department officials to substitute the word “war” into their titles. For example, the Secretary of Defense could use the title Secretary of War.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared to acknowledge the change in a post on social media on Thursday, writing simply, “DEPARTMENT OF WAR.”
President Trump has previously signaled that a change was in the works. During an appearance in the Oval Office last month, Trump said that War Department “just sounded to me better.”
It’s not clear whether Trump can officially change the name without congressional action, but he told reporters, “We’re just gonna do it.”
“I’m sure Congress will go along if we need that. I don’t think we even need that. But if we need that, I’m sure Congress will go along,” Trump said.
Almost from the country’s founding, the military was overseen by the War Department, but the sprawling agency took on its current name following an act of Congress in 1949. At the time, the change marked the culmination of an effort by President Harry Truman to unify the Air Force, Army and Navy under the umbrella of a single department.
As the largest department in the U.S. government, even just changing signs, seals and titles could prove costly. In 2023, an Army official told Congress that an effort to rename only nine Army bases would cost taxpayers $39 million.
Danielle Kurtzleben and Quil Lawrence contributed to this report.