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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Defense is set to be rebranded as the “Department of War,” a move President Donald Trump will enact today via executive order. This change will allow Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to officially adopt the title “secretary of war” in his communications and during ceremonies.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth could be known as the ‘secretary of war.’
Hegseth himself previewed the change on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday night, posting: “DEPARTMENT OF WAR.”
While a permanent renaming would require congressional approval, the executive order directs Hegseth to initiate that process. The Department of Defense, commonly known as the Pentagon due to its iconic Washington D.C. headquarters, was officially called the War Department until 1949.
Historians note the name change in 1949 aimed to signal a post-World War II focus on conflict prevention, particularly in the nascent nuclear age. Trump had previously floated the idea in June, suggesting the rebranding was initially a move toward being “politically correct.”
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