US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to rename the Department of Defense Pentagon as War Department.
He told reporters in the Oval Office that it is a more ‘appropriate’ name given the state of the world.
“I think it’s a more appropriate name, especially given the current state of the world. We have the strongest military in the world,” Trump said, citing a CNN report, before signing the order on Friday.
According to a fact sheet obtained by CNN, the order authorizes the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Defense and subordinate officials to use secondary designations such as ‘Secretary of War’, ‘Department of War’ and ‘Deputy Secretary of War’ in official correspondence, public communications, formal references and non-statutory documents within the executive branch.
Pentagon officials changed signage outside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office and the department’s website was also revamped. The old website, defense.gov, has moved to war.gov, which says “Department of War” at the top. The acronym DoD has also been changed from DOW to War Department in various titles.
Hegseth, speaking with the president in the Oval Office, said the name change is “not just about renaming, but about reinvention.” He said the military will “shift from just defense to offensive” and that the name change also “signals that the country will build “warriors, not just defenders.”
Trump will need congressional support to make the change permanent, according to the fact sheet. The president said Friday he had no information on that.
