‘Defence is too defensive’: Trump wants Pentagon renamed as ‘Department of War’ and it will cost US BILLIONS
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Defence is too defensive’: Trump wants Pentagon renamed as ‘Department of War’ and it will cost US BILLIONS")
US President Donald Trump, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth Photograph: (AFP)
President Trump plans to rename the Department of Defence as the Department of War to project military strength. The move, backed by Defence Secretary Hegseth, may bypass Congress through legal means.
US President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order on Friday to rename the Department of Defence as the Department of War. The White House says the move is part of a wider push to project a stronger and more aggressive image of America’s military. A senior official confirmed the plan, though the change would normally need an act of Congress. According to people familiar with the matter, the administration is exploring legal ways to bypass a vote. The War Department existed from America’s independence until 1947, when it was replaced by the Department of Defence under President Harry Truman.
Hegseth repeats Trump’s call
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has openly embraced the term “warfighters”, backed the president’s plan. On Thursday night, he posted simply “Department of War” on X. He has even renamed his Pentagon conference room the “W.A.R. Room.” In a Fox News interview, Hegseth said, “We won World War I, and we won World War II, not with the Department of Defence, but with a War Department. As the president has said, we’re not just defence, we’re offence.”
Cost concerns over Pentagon overhaul
Renaming the department could cost billions, with the need to update signage, stationery, emblems and plaques across hundreds of Pentagon agencies and bases worldwide. Critics warn this could undermine Trump’s own efforts to cut military spending and waste. Still, the rebrand fits Trump’s push to overhaul the post-World War II national security system created under Truman. He has already slashed the National Security Council and cut several Pentagon agencies.
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‘Defence is too defensive’
Trump has raised the idea repeatedly since taking office, even with NATO allies. At a rally last month, he argued, “As Department of War, we won everything. We won everything. We’re going to have to go back to that.” Explaining the logic, he added, “Defence is too defensive. And we want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too if we have to be. So, it just sounded to me like a better name.”
Democrats hit back
Democrats wasted no time criticising the plan. Congressman Darren Soto mocked Trump on X, saying, “Trump is begging for the Nobel Peace Prize. This should cinch it for him right?”
