US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an order today rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War.
The president will sign an executive order allowing it to be used as a secondary title, while Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth will be known as Secretary of War.
Hegseth, who has served as Defence Secretary since January, posted the words "DEPARTMENT OF WAR" on X on Thursday night.
It comes as White House officials privately suggested they were keen to do something symbolic to mark the 200th day of Trump’s second term.
Trump and Hegseth have been pushing for the name change for weeks, claiming it would present the US military as more aggressive to the world by reverting back to a name first used in the 18th century.
Permanently renaming the department would need congressional approval, but the White House has said the order will allow Hegseth to begin the process.
The order will instruct the rest of the executive branch to use the “Department of War” title in internal and external communications, while Hegseth can use his “Secretary of War” title in official communications and ceremonies.
The Department of Defense, otherwise known as The Pentagon, was called the War Department until just after the Second World War, when the Truman administration split the US army and air force and merged it with the navy.
In 1949, Congress amended the National Security Act which named the new agency the Department of Defense.
The decision to rename the agency as the Department of War follows Trump's ongoing claims that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring an end to conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
But the move has drawn criticism from those who argue the new name runs counter to the ideals of the Peace Prize.
