Trump Proposes Restoring Pentagon’s Old Name ‘Department of War

President Donald Trump is once again sending shockwaves through Washington this time by floating a bold proposal to rename the Department of Defense back to its original title: the Department of War.

Speaking Monday during a White House meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Trump hinted that the Pentagon may soon reclaim its historic name.

“We call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we’re going to change the name,” Trump said. “It used to be called the Department of War, and it had a stronger sound.”

Trump emphasized that America didn’t just defend itself under the original War Department it won.

“We won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything. Now we have a Department of Defense with defenders,” he said. “I don’t want to be defense only. We want defense, but we want offense, too.”

Established by President George Washington in 1789, the War Department was America’s primary military agency for more than 150 years. It wasn’t until 1947, under President Harry Truman, that it was reorganized into the Department of Defense a post-World War II shift in tone that critics say symbolized America’s drift into a reactive and overly cautious global posture.

Now, Trump is calling for a return to clarity and unapologetic strength.

Following Trump’s remarks, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) announced plans to introduce legislation to formally rename the department, saying it was “long overdue to restore the clarity of purpose and historical identity that served America so well.”

Critics from the Left have already begun spinning Trump’s remarks as “warmongering,” but the reality is far simpler: Trump’s message is that peace comes through strength, not timid semantics.

And the American people agree.

• A 2024 Rasmussen poll found that 62% of likely voters believe the U.S. military has become too politically correct and needs to refocus on “winning wars, not managing narratives.”

• Under Trump’s leadership, ISIS was crushed, Iran’s terror chiefs were eliminated, and no new wars were launched while deterrence held strong.

By contrast, under Biden, deterrence collapsed in Afghanistan, chaos reigned in Ukraine, and America’s adversaries China, Iran, and Russia grew more emboldened by the day.

Trump’s point is clear: the current leadership calls it “defense,” but under their watch, America’s military has been hollowed out by politics, bureaucracy, and weakness.

The name “Department of War” isn't about warmongering it’s about purpose, power, and resolve. It’s a reminder to enemies that America will defend itself fiercely and to allies that we will stand strong in the face of rising global threats.

Trump joked earlier this year that after the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, maybe we’d “call it that for a couple of weeks… because we feel like warriors.”

Now, it looks like that joke may become policy.

In a world increasingly hostile to American interests, Trump’s push to restore the Pentagon’s original name is more than branding it’s a message: America is back, and we’re not just playing defense anymore.

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