Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has installed new plaques at the entrances to his department bearing an unofficial name dreamed up by President Donald Trump.
The former Fox News host tightened the screws Wednesday on a bronze sign at the Defense Department’s stately River Entrance that says “Department of War.”
The entrance facing the National Mall in Washington also got a new sign, according to the Department of Defense, which Trump announced in September would be rebranded with the secondary title of Department of War.
The administration has argued that Trump has the authority to temporarily change the name to a secondary title during his presidency, despite the fact that congressional approval would be needed to formally rename the agency.
“We wanted to replace [the old signs] because we want everybody who comes through this door to know that we are deadly serious about the name change of this organization,” Hegseth said in a video posted to X.
He noted that the building’s previous sign had hung for 76 years, but that the new sign was necessary to clarify for American troops that when they fight wars—which Trump vowed to avoid during his campaign—they’re supposed to win.
“We love everything that the Department of Defense represented, but this is a new era of the Department of War that is focused on winning wars, not just perpetually defending,” he said. “Making sure we know exactly what the mission is and that the troops are sent there to succeed and win.”
The only wrinkle is that Congress created the Department of Defense with the National Security Act of 1947, which means only Congress has the authority to transform it into the Department of War.
In 1789, the first U.S. Congress created a War Department that operated and maintained the U.S. Army. In 1794, legislators passed the first Naval Act authorizing the construction of six heavy frigates and then created the Navy Department in 1798.
Until World War II, both departments were led by secretaries who reported directly to the president as Cabinet-level advisers. After the war, President Harry Truman then proposed creating a unified department of national defense, which has existed since 1949.
In his video, Hegseth urged Congress to make the department “permanently the Department of War, re-establishing it back to Henry Knox and George Washington and the founding of our nation.”
But even some Republican senators have balked at the idea of “glorifying war” in a world with nuclear weapons, as Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky put it.
An official change would cost an estimated $2 billion as it would require overhauling the code on both internal and external communications systems, and replacing letterhead, badges, placards, and signs at offices and bases all around the world.
Official photos of Wednesday’s sign change were credited to the Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs.
The Trump administration has nevertheless begun “aggressively implementing the name change,” according to the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, including revamping the department’s website and social media handles to reflect the secondary title.
Hegseth also calls himself the secretary of war, even though Congress confirmed him as the defense secretary.
