WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 After months of campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize, President Donald Trump sent a sharply different message on Friday when he signed an executive order aimed at rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War.
Trump said the switch was intended to signal to the world that the United States was a force to be reckoned with, and he complained that the Department of Defense鈥檚 name was 鈥渨oke.鈥
鈥淚 think it sends a message of victory. I think it sends, really, a message of strength,鈥 Trump said of the change as he authorized the Department of War as a secondary title for the Pentagon.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War. Some of Trump's Republican supporters in Congress have proposed legislation to make the name change official. (Sept. 5, 2025)
AP VideoCongress has to formally authorize a new name, and several of Trump鈥檚 closest supporters on Capitol Hill proposed legislation earlier Friday to codify the new name into law.
But already there were cosmetic shifts. The Pentagon鈥檚 website went from 鈥渄efense.gov鈥 to 鈥渨ar.gov.鈥 Signs were swapped around Hegseth鈥檚 office while more than a dozen employees watched. Trump said there would be new stationery, too.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom Trump has begun referring to as the 鈥渟ecretary of war,鈥 said during the signing ceremony that 鈥渨e鈥檙e going to go on offense, not just on defense,鈥 using 鈥渕aximum lethality鈥 that won鈥檛 be 鈥減olitically correct.鈥
The attempted rebranding was another rhetorical salvo in Trump’s efforts to reshape the U.S. military and uproot what he has described as progressive ideology. Bases have been renamed, transgender soldiers have been banned and websites have been scrubbed of posts honoring contributions by women and minorities to the armed forces.
He’s also favored aggressive 鈥 critics say illegal 鈥 military action despite his criticism of 鈥渆ndless wars鈥 under other administrations. He frequently boasts about on Iran’s nuclear facilities, and he recently ordered the destruction of off the coast of Venezuela.
The Republican president insisted that his tough talk didn’t contradict his fixation on being recognized , saying peace must be made from a position of strength. for resolving conflicts between India and Pakistan; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Armenia and Azerbaijan, among others. (He’s also expressed frustration that he hasn’t brought the war between Russia and Ukraine to a conclusion as fast as he wanted.)
President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War. Some of Trump's Republican supporters in Congress have proposed legislation to make the name change official. (Sept. 5, 2025)
AP Video鈥淚 think I’ve gotten peace because of the fact that we鈥檙e strong,鈥 Trump said, echoing the 鈥減eace through strength鈥 motto associated with President Ronald Reagan
When Trump finished his remarks on the military, he dismissed Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from the room.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to let these people go back to the Department of War and figure out how to maintain peace,鈥 Trump said.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube proposed legislation in the House to formally change the name of the department.
鈥淔rom 1789 until the end of World War II, the United States military fought under the banner of the Department of War,鈥 Steube, an Army veteran, said in a statement. 鈥淚t is only fitting that we pay tribute to their eternal example and renowned commitment to lethality by restoring the name of the 鈥楧epartment of War鈥 to our Armed Forces.鈥
Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, are introducing companion legislation in the Senate.
The Department of War was created in 1789, then renamed and reorganized through legislation signed by President Harry Truman in 1947, two years after the end of World War II. The Department of Defense incorporated the Department of War, which oversaw the Army, plus the Department of the Navy and the newly created independent Air Force.
Hegseth complained that 鈥渨e haven’t won a major war since鈥 the name was changed. Trump said, 鈥淲e never fought to win.鈥
Trump and Hegseth have long talked about restoring the Department of War name.
In August, Trump told reporters that 鈥渆verybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then we changed it to Department of Defense.鈥
When confronted with the possibility that making the name change would require an act of Congress, Trump told reporters that 鈥渨e鈥檙e just going to do it.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 sure Congress will go along,鈥 he said, 鈥渋f we need that.鈥
Trump and Hegseth have been on a name-changing spree at the Pentagon, sometimes by sidestepping legal requirements.
For example, they wanted to restore the names of nine military bases that once honored Confederate leaders, which were changed in 2023 following a congressionally mandated review.
Because the original names were no longer allowed under law, Hegseth ordered the bases to be named after new people with similar names. For example, Fort Bragg now honors Army Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient from Maine, instead of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.
In the case of Fort A.P. Hill, named for Confederate Lt. Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill, the Trump administration was forced to choose three soldiers to make the renaming work.
The base now honors Union soldiers Pvt. Bruce Anderson and 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn, who contributes the two initials, and Lt. Col. Edward Hill, whose last name completes the second half of the base name.
The move irked Republicans in Congress who, in July, moved to ban restoring any Confederate names in this year鈥檚 defense authorization bill.
Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican who co-sponsored the earlier amendment to remove the Confederate names, said that 鈥渨hat this administration is doing, particularly this secretary of defense, is sticking his finger in the eye of Congress by going back and changing the names to the old names.鈥
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Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.
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