Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 5 renaming the U.S. Department of Defense, known as the Pentagon, to the Department of War, returning the historic name that existed before 1947. The signing ceremony was broadcast from the Oval Office by the White House.
The event was attended by the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hexeth, who after the decree officially received the title of “Minister of War.” He called this renaming “restoration of the warrior spirit”.
“The Ministry of War will fight decisively – not in endless conflicts. It will fight to win, not lose. We will go on the offensive. Not only in defense – maximum lethality, not sluggish legality, influence through force, not political correctness. We will raise warriors, not just defenders, Hexeth declared.
For the name change to remain valid not only for the period of Trump’s presidency, it must be approved by the US Congress.
Earlier, when Trump was asked about the need for congressional approval, he replied:
“We’ll just do it. I’m sure Congress will support us if it’s needed, although I don’t think it’s needed at all.
The official pages of the Ministry and Pete Hexeth at X have already changed their names to “Ministry of War” and “Minister of War Pete Hexeth”.
“Defense is too defensive. We want to be defensive, but we also want to be offensive if we have to, Trump explained.
He added that the then name change was made due to the desire to be “politically correct”.
Recall that until 1949, the US Department of Defense was called the Department of War. Then Congress decided to merge the Army, Navy, and Air Force after World War II. As historians point out, the new name was introduced in particular to emphasize that in the nuclear era, the United States was betting on preventing wars.
