Is the Department of Defense About to Get a New Name?

Leah Barkoukis | August 26, 2025 9:00 AM

President Donald Trump on Monday said the Department of Defense would “probably” be renamed to the Department of War.

“Pete Hegseth has been incredible with the, as I call it, the Department of War. You know, we call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we’re going to change the name,” Trump said in the White House. "You want to know the truth, I think we’re going to have some information on that maybe soon."

Trump argued the Department of Defense had a "stronger sound" when it was the Department of War.

“And as you know, we won World War I. We won World War II," he noted. "We won everything."

.@POTUS "Pete, you started off by saying the Department of Defense. Somehow it didn’t sound good to me...

It used to be called the Department of War..." pic.twitter.com/4FeTsrfYwY
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) August 25, 2025

The United States used the Department of War moniker for its military bureaucracy from 1789 to 1947. In 1949, it was changed to the current Department of Defense name amid massive restructuring of the military services.
That change came as a result of the National Security Act of 1947, approved by the House and Senate, which also established the Secretary of Defense post. It’s unclear if changing the name of the military apparatus would lead to objections or litigation from Congress.
But Trump has frequently mentioned the idea of reverting to the war name in the past, and has referred to Hegseth as “Secretary of War” on several occasions. (Military Times)