President Trump Renames Pentagon to “Department of War” in Executive Order

Washington D.C. — In a bold and controversial move, former U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday renaming the U.S. Department of Defense back to its historical title, the “Department of War.” The name was last used during World War II before being changed to the Department of Defense in 1949.

According to global news agency Reuters, Trump’s latest action is part of his broader effort to rebrand the U.S. military. The former president had previously presided over a large-scale military parade in Washington D.C. and reinstated the original names of military bases that had been renamed following the racial justice movement in 2020.

Immediately following the signing of the order, signage at the Pentagon headquarters in Arlington, Virginia was updated. The office door of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth now reads “Secretary of War,” while his deputy, Steve Feinberg, has been assigned the title “Deputy Secretary of War.”

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In line with the rebranding, the Pentagon’s official X (formerly Twitter) account has also updated its handle and name to reflect the change to Department of War.

Speaking to reporters during the signing ceremony, Trump said:

“This is a very important change — it’s about mindset. It’s about winning.”
He added that the new name better reflects the current global climate and projects American strength to the world.

The executive order instructs Secretary Hegseth to propose the necessary legal and administrative steps to make the name change permanent.

This move has already sparked heated debate across political, diplomatic, and military circles in the U.S. and abroad, with critics warning of the symbolic shift from defense to aggression, while Trump’s supporters hail it as a return to American military pride and clarity of purpose.