'Department of war': Why Donald Trump wants to rename Pentagon; executive order likely today

US President Donald Trump is once again moving ahead with a rebranding push -- this time targeting the Pentagon, the country’s defence headquarters based in Virginia. The US president is set to sign an executive order on Friday that will allow the Pentagon to be referred to as the "Department of War."The order permits the title to be used as a secondary designation for the US government’s largest organization. According to Sky News, it will also allow defence secretary Pete Hegseth to identify himself as the "secretary of war" in official documents and ceremonies.Hegseth appeared to endorse the move on Thursday night, posting the words "DEPARTMENT OF WAR" on X.Trump had hinted at the change last week during an Oval Office exchange with reporters. "We call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we’re gonna change the name," he said on August 25. He added: "We won the World War 1, World War 2 - 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 gonna be changing."The Department of War was originally established by the first US President George Washington to oversee the Army. It retained the name until 1949, when President Harry Truman reorganized the military. Truman had earlier signed the National Security Act of 1947, merging the Department of the Navy, the newly created Department of the Air Force, and the Department of the Army -- then known as the Department of War -- into the National Military Establishment under a civilian secretary of defense. In August 1949, the establishment was renamed the Department of Defense.The Pentagon renaming effort comes after a series of moves by Hegseth to reverse earlier policies. Among them was the restoration of Confederate-era names like Fort Bragg and Fort Hood, which had been changed under the Biden administration. Hegseth kept the names but reattributed them to other historical figures with the same titles.