Trump to sign order renaming Department of Defense to ‘Department of War’

President Trump is scheduled to sign an executive order Friday formally renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War, the White House confirmed.

Trump had in recent days signaled the change was coming, pointing to the history behind the name and his belief that it better reflected the Pentagon’s offensive operations.

Fox News first reported that Trump would sign an executive order Friday to alter the name. The order will also change the title of secretary of Defense to secretary of War. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted the new moniker Thursday night on social platform X.

The order also reportedly directs Hegseth to propose legislative actions to make the name change permanent, although Trump had previously indicated that he was not concerned with getting congressional approval.

The Department of War was established by George Washington in 1789. It existed until 1947, when it was reorganized by then-President Harry Truman. It was renamed the Department of Defense in 1949.

“Defense is a part of that,” Trump said last week. “But I have a feeling we’re going to be changing. Everybody likes that. We had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War.”