Is Trump Renaming Department of Defense To Department Of War Legal? What To Know.

Topline

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday renaming the Department of Defense as the “Department of War,” an unofficial change for now, as Trump does not have the legal authority to change the name without Congress.

President Donald Trump speaks during in a cabinet meeting alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the White House on August 26.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

Trump signed an order renaming the Defense agency on Friday, after repeatedly saying publicly that he thinks the name should be reverted to the “Department of War.”

The Defense Department was previously known as the “Department of War” until the 1940s, when the name was changed after World War II and the various departments of the military—the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force—were all consolidated into a single agency.

That name change was made by Congress, as lawmakers formally rebranded the agency as the Department of Defense in 1949 when they amended the National Security Act.

Because of that, it would take another act of Congress to formally change the name back to the Department of War, and Trump cannot do it unilaterally on his own through an executive order.

Despite Trump’s order on Friday, that means the name change won’t actually be official, with the White House saying in a fact sheet that they intend to make the Department of War name a “secondary title” for the agency.

Trump will also direct Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “recommend actions,” including acts of Congress, that would make the name change permanent.

What Will Trump’s Executive Order Say?

The executive order will install the Department of War as a “secondary” name for the agency, and also direct Hegseth to now be known under a “secondary title” of the “Secretary of War,” according to a fact sheet the White House provided to Forbes. Though the name change won’t actually be official, Trump will still direct the “Department of War” name and officials’ secondary “war” titles to be used on all external and internal communications throughout the executive branch. The order will also instruct Hegseth to recommend moves that are “required to permanently rename the U.S. Department of Defense to the U.S. Department of War.”

Why Did The Name Change To The Department Of Defense?

President George Washington initially established the Department of War back in 1789, though the agency historically only oversaw the Army, while other branches of the military were their own separate agencies. After World War II, Congress and President Harry Truman decided to consolidate the branches of the military into a single agency, citing the need for greater unification and coordination between the agencies as the Cold War began. There was a “recognition” at the time “that the United States is going to continue to have forces deployed on a global level and … that just is going to require a more unified command structure,” Wayne Lee, a military history professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) told Task & Purpose. The various branches were consolidated into what was known as the “National Military Establishment” with the National Security Act in 1947, and that law was later amended in 1949 to retitle the agency as the Department of Defense. While Trump has suggested the name change was made to be more “politically correct,” UNC military history professor Richard H. Kohn told The New York Times it was more to project an image of peace in the wake of World War II and as the Cold War was beginning. The name change “was to communicate to America’s adversaries and the rest of the world that America was not about making war but defending the United States, and saying that if that requires war, there are four major armed services,” Kohn said.

How Much Will The Name Change Cost?

It’s still unclear how much the change to “Department of War” will cost the federal government—given the cost of changing signage, official documentation and other assets—but it will likely be millions of dollars. A 2022 report by the Naming Commission to Congress found that efforts by the Department of Defense to change the names of all military assets that honor Confederate leaders, which would be less widespread than this initiative, would cost an estimated $62.5 million.

Crucial Quote

“If we call it the Dept. of War, we’d better equip the military to actually prevent and win wars,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a tweet. “Can’t preserve American primacy if we’re unwilling to spend substantially more on our military than Carter or Biden. ‘Peace through strength’ requires investment, not just rebranding.”

Chief Critic

Democrats have been heavily critical of Trump’s decision to rename the Department of Defense, decrying the emphasis on “war” and casting the name change as a performative and costly move Trump is undertaking rather than actually investing in the nation’s troops. “Why not put this money toward supporting military families or toward employing diplomats that help prevent conflicts from starting in the first place?” Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a military veteran, told Reuters. “Because Trump would rather use our military to score political points than to strengthen our national security and support our brave servicemembers and their families—that’s why.”

Key Background

Trump’s executive order comes after he and his administration had repeatedly teased that they wanted to restore the military agency’s previous name. “We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive, too, if we have to be,” Trump said last week about the name change, calling the Department of Defense name “too defensive” and claiming the U.S. had an “unbelievable history of victory” under its old moniker. The president also referred to Hegseth as the “Secretary of War” on Truth Social in July and claimed in June that the post-World War II change was made because “we became politically correct.” Hegseth has also argued the Department of War title projects more strength, telling Fox News last week, “We won World War I, and we won World War II, not with the Department of Defense, but with a War Department, with the Department of War.” The order marks the latest controversial name change by the president since he took office, with Trump also rebranding the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”