U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his desire to change the name of the Department of Defense back to its pre-1947 title, the “Department of War.” This was the third time he mentioned the idea that day.

“So Pete, you started off by saying the ‘Department of Defense’, and somehow it didn’t sound good to me, you know, it didn’t sound good. ‘Defense’, what are we ‘defense’, why are we ‘defense’? So it used to be called the ‘Department of War,’ and it had a stronger sound,” Trump said.

Speaking to a small group of officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Trump added:
“If you people want to, standing behind me, if you take a little vote and you want to change it back to what it was when we used to win wars all the time, that’s okay with me.”

Later, alongside South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Trump reiterated the idea:
“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.”

Trump said the original name reflects the country’s military successes: “We won World War I, World War II, it was called the ‘Department of War’. And to me, that’s really what it is. It to me, seems like a 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 better.”

When reporters asked how the renaming would take place, given that Congress must approve such a change, Trump said:
“We're just going to do it. I'm sure Congress will go along if we need that...Defense is too defensive. We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive, too if we have to be.”

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