Trump rebrands Dept of Defence as Dept of War

The US Department of Defence has been renamed as Department of War, a nomenclature last used around the World War -II (1939-1945).

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday changing the Defence Department’s name to the Department of War as a secondary title. The executive order will need to be ratified by the US Congress.

According to a fact sheet released by the White House, the ‘Department of War’ conveys a stronger message of readiness and resolve compared to ‘Department of Defence’, which emphasises only “defence capabilities”.

Restoring the name ‘Department of War’ would sharpen the focus of this department on their national interests and signal to adversaries America’s readiness to wage war to secure its interests, the fact sheet said.

Prior to signing the executive order, Trump said, under the original War Department, the US achieved military victories in both world wars; however, victories turned into more prolonged conflicts that often resulted in a “sort of tie” once the War Department was rebranded as the Defence Department.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth concurred with Trump’s contention. “We changed the name after World War II from the Department of War to the Department of Defence and … we haven’t won a major war since then,” Hegseth said.

The secretary went on to say that the War Department would fight decisively to win and not get mired down in endless conflicts. “Maximum lethality, not tepid legality; violent effect, not politically correct,” he said.