Washington, Sept 6 (V7N) – U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the Department of Defense to also operate under the historical name “Department of War,” a designation that had been officially retired in 1947. The move, according to White House officials, is intended to reflect a “warrior ethos” that the administration sought to instill in the U.S. armed forces.
 
The executive order, signed in the Oval Office, makes “Department of War” a secondary name for the Pentagon. This allows Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use titles such as “Secretary of War” and “Deputy Secretary of War” in official communications, though a formal name change would still require Congressional approval.
 
In his remarks during the signing ceremony, Trump said the decision restores the nation’s historic military identity. “We won the First World War. We won the Second World War. We won everything before that and in between,” Trump declared. “And then we decided to go woke and changed the name to the Department of Defense. So we’re going back to the Department of War.”
 
The Department of War, established in 1789, oversaw military affairs until its dissolution after World War II, when the National Security Act of 1947 created the Department of Defense to unify the armed services under a single Cabinet agency.
 
Trump’s order does not alter the Pentagon’s legal name but grants the administration flexibility to use the older title in government correspondence and ceremonial contexts. The move has sparked debate among historians and defense analysts, some of whom note that the shift is largely symbolic but could carry implications for U.S. military messaging abroad.
 
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