MaddowBlog-Trump wants to rebrand the Defense Department as the 'Department of War'

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Last edited Mon Sep 8, 2025, 04:29 PM - Edit history (1)

The president insisted that he and his team were “gonna change the name” of the Defense Department. As it turns out, that isn’t quite right.

On one hand, Trump desperately wants a Nobel Peace Prize.

On the other hand, he also wants preemptive strikes against Iran, a militarized DC, strikes on a civilian boat in international waters, and a newly rebranded “Department of War.” www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-05T20:54:07.132Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-wants-rebrand-defense-department-department-war-rcna229303

It would be far more accurate to say that Trump likes to pretend he’s good at branding, and that leads him in some unfortunate directions. NBC News reported on Trump’s upcoming executive order to add “Department of War” as the secondary title of the Defense Department:

The order, which Trump is expected to sign in the Oval Office, won’t rename the Defense Department, but it will authorize Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use secondary titles like ‘secretary of war’ and ‘Department of War’ in official correspondence and public communications and during formal ceremonies, according to a White House preview of the order. Trump will require all executive departments and agencies to ‘recognize and accommodate these secondary titles in internal and external communications.’

......At a White House event last week, a reporter reminded the president that it would require an act of Congress to rename a Cabinet agency. He replied, “We’re just gonna do it.”

The comment now makes more sense: Trump isn’t renaming the department; he’s wrapping a new skin around it like a cheap sedan.

We’ve been headed down this path for much of the year. The first hint came in March, when the president published an item to his social media platform that referred in passing to the Pentagon as “the Department of War.” A few months later, he reiterated his interest in the change and even referred to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth as the “secretary of war.”.....

On the other hand, Trump has also destabilized international alliances and institutions, announced plans to acquire countries that don’t appear to have any interest in joining the United States, launched a preemptive strike against Iran, militarized his own country’s capital, mused about launching military strikes against targets in Mexico and Central America, boasted about a military strike against a civilian boat in international waters and is now rebranding the Pentagon — because “we want offense, too.”

If he’s still angling to get that Nobel, he might want to lower his expectations.

trump knows that he does not have votes in congress to officially change the name and so is playing a game here

[GreenWave]

1. Way to keep up with modern times Trumpy poo.

United States Department of War
United States Cabinet department (1789-1947)

[MrWowWow]

2. Renaming the DoD Won't Make tr💩mp the Lion King

nor make him a "war president," nor improve the U.S.'s image abroad. tr💩mp will remain the worst U.S. president in history. Oh, and no, it won't increase the size of his manhood nor that of his dollhands. He'll still stink, and the tr💩mp-rich Epstein videos and client list will still soon find their way into the public domain.

[Ars Longa]

3. Wait...I thought Trumps whole " Thing" was staying out of Stupid Wars?

I'm gonna be the President of Peace!
No More Stupid Wars!!!

Now he is starting a Whole New Dept of ........WAR!!!

[C_U_L8R]

4. Clearly he has nothing better to do.

How's that job market going, clownface?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Update: it turns out the new name (Department of War) is actually a nickname as it's a "secondary title" lol

This is only nickname

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. It is still the Department of Defense

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. Trump's Pentagon rebranding sparks 'frustration, anger and downright confusion'

The “Department of War” rebrand is unnecessary, costly, unhelpful to U.S. diplomacy and doing little more than annoying many Pentagon insiders.

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-pentagon-rebranding-sparks-frustration-anger-downright-confusio-rcna229792

“Department of War” appears slated to become one of those phrases that only Republicans use, joining “Democrat Party,” “Gulf of America,” “job creators” and “death tax.”

But just as notably, many of those who actually work at the Pentagon haven’t exactly embraced the rhetorical shift with enthusiasm. Politico reported:

Pentagon officials grappled Friday with the Herculean task of fulfilling President Donald Trump’s executive order to remold the enormous, global agency into the Department of War. Many expressed frustration, anger and downright confusion at the effort, which could cost billions of dollars for a cosmetic change that would do little to tackle the military’s most pressing challenges — such as countering a more aggressive alliance of authoritarian nations.

The Politico report, which was based on interviews with “half a dozen current and former defense officials,” and which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that DOD officials may need to change Defense Department seals on more than 700,000 facilities in 40 countries and all 50 states as a result of Trump’s order.....

Taken together, at issue is an unnecessary and costly rebranding campaign, which sends all of the wrong messages to the world about the United States and its intentions, which was sought by no one and is doing little more than annoying many Pentagon insiders.

“This is purely for domestic political audiences,” a former defense official told Politico, adding, “It will have absolutely zero impact on Chinese or Russian calculations. Worse, it will be used by our enemies to portray the United States as warmongering and a threat to international stability.”

If the president and his team have thoughts as to how or why this makes Americans any safer, they’ve kept those ideas to themselves.