The Trump administration is advancing plans to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing a White House official, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s introduction of the idea on Monday.
The reinstatement of the Department of War title for the government’s most extensive department would likely necessitate congressional approval, but the White House is considering alternative avenues to implement the change, according to the report.
Republican Representative Greg Steube of Florida submitted an amendment to the annual defense policy bill to alter the department’s name, signaling some Republican backing in Congress for the move.
The White House gave no details, but underscored Trump’s comments this week emphasizing the U.S. military’s offensive capabilities.
“As President Trump mentioned, our military should prioritize offense – not merely defense – which is why he has focused on warfighters at the Pentagon instead of DEI and woke ideology. Stay tuned!” said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly, using DEI abbreviations to refer to initiatives aimed at boosting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Trump proposed the idea of renaming the Defense Department as the “Department of War” during a discussion with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, stating it “just sounded better to me.”
“It used to be called the Department of War and it had a stronger ring,” Trump remarked. “We want defense, but we want offense too … As Department of War we prevailed in everything, we succeeded at everything and I believe we’re going to have to revert to that.”
The War Department became the Department of Defense through a gradual process, beginning with the National Security Act of 1947, which unified the Army, Navy, and Air Force under a single organization called the National Military Establishment.
An amendment to the law passed in 1949 officially introduced the name “Department of Defense,” establishing the structure in place today.
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been working to promote a more aggressive image of the military while making a spate of other changes, including purging top military leaders whose views have been seen as being at odds with Trump.
The Trump administration has also sought to bar transgender individuals from joining the U.S. military and remove all who are currently serving. The Pentagon says transgender people are medically unfit, something civil rights activists say is untrue and constitutes illegal discrimination.
