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Trump to Sign Executive Order Renaming the Department of Defense

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  September 05, 2025 8:30 AM

President Trump will sign an executive order on Friday changing the name of the Department of Defense back to the Department of War, which was in use until 1947. 

The order comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump have spoken in recent weeks about the imminent change, with the commander in chief noting the previous name had a "stronger sound."

According to reports, an official name change would need to be made through legislation, which the administration will push for. In the meantime, however, the president will authorize the use of the “Department of War” as a secondary title. 

George Washington established the Department of War in August 1789, months after the Constitution was ratified and he became the first president. The department oversaw the new nation’s military forces. Its first secretary was Henry Knox, who had served as a commander during the Revolutionary War and had, since 1785, been the war secretary under the Articles of Confederation, an early agreement among the colonial states.

The name was retained for more than 150 years, during which time the United States fought wars against Britain, Spain, Mexico and the Philippines, as well as the Civil War. It also fought wars against Native Americans.

The United States entered World War I in 1917 and, after the attack on the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor in 1941, joined World War II on the side of the Allied powers. When Mr. Trump floated the idea of the name change in August, he said it would be a reminder of U.S. military victories under the old name, citing World War I and II.

According to the Truman Library Institute, President Harry S. Truman changed the name as part of the National Security Act he signed in 1947, a time when the United States was the world’s only nuclear power and the Cold War was just starting.

The law merged the Navy and War departments and a newly independent Air Force into a single organization called the National Military Establishment, under a civilian secretary of defense who also oversaw the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Its first secretary was James Forrestal, who served for two years before resigning.

Two years later, Congress amended the National Security Act, and the National Military Establishment was renamed the Defense Department. (NYT)