Story continues below

Trump moves to rename U.S. Department of Defense as the Department of War, saying current name is ‘woke’

‘I think it sends a message of victory. I think it sends, really, a message of strength,’ Trump said of the name change, which needs the approval of Congress

The Associated Press
Chris Megerian, Seung Min Kim and Konstantin Toropin
Published Sep 05, 2025
Last updated 3 hours ago
4 minute read
14 Comments
Department of War sign.
A new sign hangs at the Pentagon after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aiming to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War, in Washington, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. Photo by Mike Pesoli/AP
Advertisement
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Conversation

|

All Comments

    1. Comment by Rock Doctor.

      Honesty in practice I suppose. I always felt that calling it the Department of Defence was one of those bureaucratic efforts to make killing people seem more palatable. Sort of like calling the Colt .45 the “Peacemaker” or Vladimir Putin’s war a “Special Military Operation”. Refreshing to see a spade called a spade.

    2. Comment by Colin Pratt.

      Good. I guess this is better than Canada's Department of Pronouns and Tampons

    3. Comment by Liam Jenson.

      Twice impeached Trump, the only US president to hide in the Whitehouse basement bunker & the guy who surrendered to the Taliban in Afghanistan thinks the current name (Dept of Defense) is 'woke'. No wonder Trump is little more than a punchline to the entire world right now!

    4. Comment by JAMES ALLISON.

      A message of strength from Baby Bone Spurs.

      Got it

    5. Comment by Michel Vallieres.

      It's kind of dumb. Ministry of Defense has been standard in many countries for a long time. It's not a new name. I think it started shortly after WW2 as a more pacifist name than Ministry of War.