Trump Ponders Renaming Department of Defense to Department of War
To quote William Shakespeare, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Would that hold up if the Department of Defense is renamed the Department of War?
That is an idea President Donald Trump brought up Monday during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the White House, the Daily Wire reported.
“[Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth has been incredible with the, as I call it, the Department of War. You know, we call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we’re going to change the name,” Trump said. “You want to know the truth, I think we’re going to have some information on that maybe soon.”
President George Washington established the Department of War in 1789. In 1947, President Harry Truman reorganized the department and added “defense” two years later.
Trump expounded on the two names the their differences.
“It used to be called the Department of War, and it had a stronger sound and, as you know, we won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything. Now, we have a Department of Defense with defenders,” Trump said.
“I don’t want to be defense only. We want defense, but we want offense, too, if that’s OK,” he continued. “As Department of War, we won everything. We won everything. And I think we’re gonna have to go back to that.”
One reporter suggested it may take an act Congress to make the name change. Trump didn’t think that was the case. He added Congress would approve the name change anyway.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-)Utah said he would introduce legislation to facilitate the change.
“I’m drafting a bill to restore the Department of War to its original name —the only name that captures the full range of America’s military capabilities,” he posted on X.
This is not the first time Trump suggested the change.
In June, he broached the idea, joking with reporters after the U.S. bombed of Iranian nuclear facilities.
“You know it used to be called secretary of war,” Trump said. “Maybe for a couple of weeks, we’ll call it that because we feel like warriors.”
Even though Department of War may seem like a more aggressive name, Trump has been called “peacemaker-in-chief” for helping end since he took office in January.
