Executive Branch

Trump Signs Order Renaming Department of Defense as Department of War

The president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been talking about the name change for months.
Trump Signs Order Renaming Department of Defense as Department of War
President Donald Trump (L) shows a signed executive order next to the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office of the White House on Sept. 5, 2025. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Jackson Richman
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WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Sept. 5 signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense as the Department of War.

“I think it’s a much more appropriate name, especially in light of where the world is right now,” Trump said before signing the order at the Oval Office. “We have the strongest military in the world. We have the greatest equipment in the world.”

Jackson Richman
Jackson Richman
Author
Jackson Richman is a Washington correspondent for The Epoch Times. In addition to Washington politics, he covers the intersection of politics and sports/sports and culture. He previously was a writer at Mediaite and Washington correspondent at Jewish News Syndicate. His writing has also appeared in The Washington Examiner. He is an alum of George Washington University.
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