&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "'Message of victory': Trump hails Pentagon rebrand as 'Department of War,' calls current name too 'wokey'")
US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order rebranding the Department of Defence as the Department of War, reviving a title last used more than 70 years ago. Speaking at the White House alongside Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump said the Pentagon's current name — in place since 1949 — was "too wokey" and failed to project strength. Trump told reporters that the old War Department name was "more appropriate for where the world is right now," adding, “I think it sends a message of victory.”
Is the Pentagon now the 'Department of War'?
Trump's order does not formally rename the Pentagon, which would require congressional approval, but it authorises "Department of War" as an official secondary title.
The original War Department was created in 1789 and kept its name until the post–World War II reorganisation that established the Department of Defence.
Trump's 'Secretary of War'
Hegseth, a former Army officer and long-time Trump ally, quickly embraced the change. In a video posted online, he unveiled a new "Secretary of War" nameplate for his Pentagon office. He said that this wasn't "just about renaming; it's about restoring the warrior ethos." He added that the name represents "maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We're going to raise up warriors, not just defenders."
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Trump blames 'Department of Defence' and 'wokeness' for US misadventures
Trump, who signed his 200th executive order with the move, suggested America's postwar struggles could be traced to the 1949 decision to drop the War Department title. "We could have won every war," he said, "but we really chose to be very politically correct or wokey."
The decision comes as Trump has sought to flex military muscle abroad and at home in his second term. He recently ordered a Caribbean build-up to target drug cartels linked to Venezuela, oversaw a strike on Iranian nuclear sites, and deployed the National Guard to US cities in what he has called a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration.
