Renamed Department of Defense coming ‘soon,' Trump says

Trump suggests name change is coming for Department of Defense

President Donald Trump speaks about changing the name of the Department of Defense.

President Donald Trump announced a name change is likely "going to be made over the next week or so" for the Department of Defense. 

The president said at the White House that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth "has been incredible with the, as I call it, the Department of War."

"You know we call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we're going to change the name. You want to know the truth? I think we're going to have some information on that, maybe soon," Trump added. 

"But I think because, you know, Department of Defense, we won the World War One, World War Two. It was called the Department of War. And to me that's really what it is. Defense is a part of that. But I have a feeling we're going to be changing," Trump continued. "I'm talking to the people. Everybody likes that. We had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then we changed it to Department of Defense. 

Trump then said, "It's something that I think you're going to be hearing about or seeing about over the next couple of weeks," and "probably that change is going to be made over the next week or so." 

HEGSETH VOWS TO RESTORE WARRIOR MENTALITY AND RAISE STANDARDS IN SWEEPING MILITARY TRANSFORMATION 

President Donald Trump announced Monday that the Department of Defense might soon be receiving a name change. (AP/Alex Brandon)

When asked about the name change at another White House event Monday, Trump told a reporter "We're just going to do it."

"I'm sure Congress will go along if we need that. I don't think we even need that. But, if we need that, I'm sure Congress will go along," Trump also said. You know, that was the name when we won World War One. We won World War Two. We won everything. And, just to me, seems like just a much more appropriate. The other is, defense is too defensive. And we want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too, if we have to be. So it just sounded to me like a better name." 

TRUMP ANNOUNCES HE IS 'RESTORING' THE NAMES OF SEVERAL BASES CHANGED UNDER BIDEN 

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order on cashless bail as Vice President JD Vance, left, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth look on, in the Oval Office of the White House, on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington. Trump suggested Monday that the Department of Defense may be getting a new name. (AP/Evan Vucci)

The Department of Defense says on its website that the Department of War was established by Congress in August 1789 "at the cabinet level to oversee the operation and maintenance of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps." 

Following the conclusion of World War II, in July 1947, President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act which, the site says, merged "the Navy and War Departments and the newly independent Air Force into a single organization called the National Military Establishment led by a civilian secretary of defense who also oversees the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Two years later in August 1949, the National Security Act was amended, renaming the National Military Establishment as the Department of Defense.

The Department of Defense logo is seen ahead of a press conference at the Pentagon in October 2023. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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"The change rescinded the cabinet-level statuses of Army, Navy and Air Force secretaries and made them all subordinate to the secretary of defense, whose authority and responsibilities increased," the Department of Defense website says.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.