President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters Monday that they were exploring changing the name of the Department of Defense — with the goal of renaming it the “Department of War.”
Hegseth, who joined Trump in the Oval Office on Monday, told reporters that the name change was “coming soon,” but didn’t provide much clarity on a timeline.
Trump criticized the current name of the department as not fully representing the country’s goals, adding that a name change could “be made in the next week or so.”
The Pentagon used the name the Department of War, which was established by President George Washington, from 1789 to 1947. During President Harry S. Truman’s administration, the department was renamed the National Military Establishment. In 1949, the name was changed to the Department of Defense.
“It just sounded bad to me, ‘On behalf of the Department of Defense.’ Defense? I don’t want to be defense only,” Trump told reporters Monday. “We want defense, but we want offense too, if that’s OK. As the Department of War, we won everything, and I think we’re going to have to go back to that.”
The name change is the latest alteration to the Department of Defense since Hegseth has headed the department. The U.S. Naval Academy announced in April that it removed books that promoted diversity, equity and inclusion.
Earlier this month, the United States Air Force announced that it would deny transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of service early retirement benefits, a decision made after forcibly removing them from duty.
Trump also signed several executive orders Monday that directed federal officials to change Washington, D.C.’s cashless bail policy and provide federal officials additional resources for the federalization of the city’s law enforcement.