Trump signs executive order, U.S. Military now ‘Department of War’

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense as the “Department of War,” reviving its historic title that was dropped in 1949.

The announcement was made Friday during a ceremony in the Oval Office, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was introduced under his new designation as “Secretary of War,” alongside Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg, who was redesignated “Deputy Secretary of War.”

“It’s a very important change, because it’s an attitude,” Trump said while signing the order. “It’s really about winning.”

The Pentagon moved swiftly to implement the rebrand, updating signs at its Arlington, Virginia headquarters.

Hegseth, who has long championed the change, welcomed the shift, saying: “We’re going to go on the offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality.”

The move marks a symbolic return to tradition. For more than 150 years, the War Department managed the U.S.

Army and Navy until Congress reorganized the military in 1949, consolidating the services into the Department of Defense to emphasize a mission of preventing conflict in the nuclear age. Trump, however, argued that the old name better reflected America’s strength.

Earlier this week, during a White House meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, he hinted at the change: “We had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then we changed it to Department of Defense.”

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