President Donald Trump never stays out of controversies, and now he has again kicked off a fiery one with an executive order to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War. The change might sound symbolic, but Pentagon insiders warn it could possibly saddle the U.S. taxpayers with a humongous bill, as much as $1 billion or more, from the moment Trump claims he’s cracking down on government waste.
These include new signs on bases to website overhauls, fresh stationery, not to mention vehicles, and also military uniforms, and this will be applicable for every corner of America’s 700,000 military facilities worldwide. Pentagon staff are already of the view that this whole planning would eventually cost tons of money during execution, stating it as “a million small headaches.”
But Trump isn’t backing down. “We know how to rebrand without going crazy,” he told reporters, brushing off concerns that the makeover could eat into defense budgets and take money away from weapons systems and troop readiness. The president’s team insists the costs will be modest, but analysts say the White House’s $1 billion estimate is laughably low compared to the true scope of the project, according to The Mirror.
And the thing goes further as some legal experts are of the view that the President is not able to do this without Congress, which comprises of the power to change the name of the cabinet departments. Still, the president has pushed full speed ahead, framing the rebrand as more than cosmetic. At Friday’s signing ceremony, Trump harked back to history, saying: “We won the First World War, we won the Second World War, we won everything before that and in between. And then we decided to go woke and we changed the name to Department of Defense. So we’re going Department of War.”
BREAKING: The Department of Defense ➡️ The Department of War 🇺🇸
President Donald J. Trump just signed an Executive Order restoring the name of the Department of War.
America First. Peace Through Strength.🦅 pic.twitter.com/jzk3MGQjpT
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 5, 2025
Standing by his side, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amped up the rhetoric. “We haven’t won a major war since the name change,” he said. “It’s not just about renaming, it’s about restoring. Words matter. We’re going to go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct.” Hegseth later posted a video online proudly showing his new office door sign: “Secretary of War.”
‘I think it sends a message of victory’: Trump on rebranding of Pentagon to ‘Department of War’.#Rename #Offense #War #Pentagon #TRUMP2025 pic.twitter.com/b4BRtDJ4Ny
— The Outside Plug (@llc_plug) September 7, 2025
The move fits Trump’s long-running campaign theme: ditching what he calls “defense bureaucracy” in favor of a chest-thumping, warrior image. Critics, however, see it as yet another expensive vanity project, one that could raid funds while the Pentagon is already weighing a brutal 8% budget cut, about $50 billion, to fund Trump’s other priorities like border security.
One Pentagon insider summed it up bluntly: “This isn’t just symbolism. This is billions of dollars and endless headaches, all so the President can have the word ‘war’ on the letterhead.” For Trump, though, that’s the point. To him, America is back, and it’s not playing defense anymore.
The Department of Defense name was established in 1949 when the National Military Establishment, created in 1947 under the National Security Act, was renamed to the Department of Defense (DOD) by an act of Congress. Prior to 1947, the agency was known as the War Department.