US President Donald J. Trump has signed an executive order changing back the Department of Defense name to the Department of War.
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News Release, Arlington VA, 05 September 2025: President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order today changing the Defense Department’s name to the Department of War as a secondary title.
The order — the 200th signed by the president since taking office — authorises Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and DoD subordinate officials to use secondary titles like ‘Department of War,’ ‘Secretary of War’ and ‘Deputy Secretary of War’ in public communications, official correspondence, ceremonial contexts and non-statutory documents within the executive branch, according to a fact sheet released by the White House.
Additionally, the order directs all executive agencies and departments to “recognise and accommodate these secondary titles in internal and external communications,” as well as instructing Hegseth to recommend actions — including executive and legislative actions — that would be required to permanently rename the department.
“The name ‘Department of War’ conveys a stronger message of readiness and resolve compared to ‘Department of Defense,’ which emphasises only defensive capabilities,” the fact sheet reads.
“Restoring the name ‘Department of War’ will sharpen the focus of this department on our national interests and signal to adversaries America’s readiness to wage war to secure its interests,” it continues.
Prior to signing the executive order, Trump said, “This is something [we’ve] thought long and hard about; we’ve been talking about it for months.”
He added that, under the original War Department, the US achieved military victories in both world wars; however, victories turned into more prolonged conflicts that often resulted in a “sort of tie” once the War Department rebranded as the Defense Department.
Hegseth concurred with Trump’s contention. “We changed the name after World War II from the Department of War to the Department of Defense and … we haven’t won a major war since,” Hegseth said.
“And that’s not to disparage our warfighters … That’s to recognise that this name change is not just about renaming, it’s about restoring; words matter,” he continued.
The secretary went on to say that the War Department would fight decisively to win and not get mired down in endless conflicts. “Maximum lethality, not tepid legality; violent effect, not politically correct,” he said.
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