U.S. President Donald Trump, in front of a painting of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, smiles during an event to announce that the Space Force Command will move from Colorado to Alabama, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
In contrast to President Ronald Reagan, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and others hawkish Republicans of the past — as well as hawkish Democrats like Presidents Harry Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson — President Donald Trump is often described as an "isolationist" who embodies the America First and paleoconservative ideology. But in 2025, Trump is expected to announce an executive order that would give the U.S. Department of Defense a more hawkish new name: the U.S. Department of War.
The Guardian's Hugo Lowell reports that Trump, according to sources, will issue the executive order on Friday, September 5.
"The order will designate 'Department of War' as a 'secondary title,' an administration official said, as a way to get around the need for congressional approval to formally rename a federal agency," Lowell explains. "But the order will instruct the rest of the executive branch to use the 'Department of War' name in internal and external communications, and allows the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and other officials to use 'secretary of war' as official titles. The order — seemingly in recognition of the limitation of the executive action alone — also directs Hegseth to recommend potential legislative moves the administration could take to permanently rename the Defense Department."
Trump, during a recent White House press conference, told reporters, "Everybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was the Department of War. Then, we changed it to Department of Defense."
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But Trump's critics believe that the rebrand is a bad idea.
According to The Guardian, the cost is a major concern — as it could cost taxpayers millions of dollars if signs and letterhead reflect the name change. And Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), herself a military veteran, argues that the money would be much better spent helping military families. Duckworth also argues that the name change does nothing to help the U.S. from a national security standpoint.
In a September 4 tweet, Duckworth wrote, "Why stop there? Let's rename all Depts after what Trump is inflicting on America. Dept of HHS -> Dept of Hepatitis and Human Suffering Dept of VA -> Dept of Veteran Abandonment Dept of Education -> Dept of Erasure of History Dept of Commerce -> Dept of Corruption."
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Read Hugo Lowell's reporting for The Guardian at this link.