US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an Executive Order officially changing the name of the Department of Defense to the "Department of War".
"We won the first World War. We won the second World War. We won everything before that and in between - and then we decided to go woke and we changed the name to Department of Defense. So, we're going Department of War," he said at the White House as he signed the order.
A White House official said on Thursday that the order will authorize the use of “Secretary of War” for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and instruct him to pursue legislative and executive actions to make the change permanent.
Public-facing Pentagon materials, including signage and websites, will be updated accordingly. The public affairs briefing room will be renamed the “Pentagon War Annex.”
Trump mentioned his renaming plans during a conversation with reporters last week, saying, “As Department of War, we won everything. We won everything. I think we’re going to have to go back to that.”
The President also hinted at the time that he plans to proceed with the change regardless of congressional approval.
When a reporter noted that such a move requires an Act of Congress, he stated, "We're just going to do it. I'm sure Congress will go along if we need that."
The Department of War was the official name of the US military agency until 1949, when it was changed under the National Security Act of 1947.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)