President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that lets the Department of Defense and its commanders use “Department of War” as a second name in official and ceremonial contexts, according to a White House fact sheet. Trump’s term has now seen 200 executive orders.
The order signed by the president authorizes terms such as “Secretary of War,” “Department of War,” and “Deputy Secretary of War” for use in correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts, and other non-statutory executive-branch documents. It also directs all federal departments and agencies to recognize those secondary titles in internal and external communications, the White House said.
The Defense Department’s official name stays the same. But the executive order tells the Secretary of War to suggest legislative and executive procedures that would need to be taken to permanently change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War.
The White House said that calling the department “Department of War” sends a greater statement of readiness than “Department of Defense.” They framed the move as “projecting strength and resolve.” The fact sheet says that the first Department of War, which was set up in 1789, led the country through the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. It also quotes President George Washington’s first annual address, “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace,” to back up its point.
The government linked the move to its “peace through strength” message. The White House says that the President signed an order that put troop readiness and lethality first. He also celebrated the Army’s 250th birthday with a parade in Washington, D.C., and said that the U.S. military “delivered a decisive and obliterating strike against Iran’s nuclear capabilities.” The information sheet also notes that “military recruiting is now at its highest in decades.”
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