President Donald Trump will execute an executive order today, September 5, 2025, formally reintroducing the “Department of War” as a secondary designation for the United States Department of Defense, a strategic redefinition announced by the White House.

The directive empowers Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to adopt the title “secretary of war” in official correspondence and ceremonial contexts, a shift underscored by Hegseth’s posting of “DEPARTMENT OF WAR” on X, late Thursday.

The original nomenclature, in use until 1949, harks back to a pre-World War II focus on active combat operations, altered subsequently to reflect a post-nuclear emphasis on conflict deterrence, according to historical analyses.

While a permanent redesignation necessitates congressional consent, the order mandates Hegseth to commence the legislative process.

President Trump, who proposed the change in June, attributed the mid-20th-century renaming to “political correctness.”

The transition is projected to incur costs in the tens of millions, encompassing updates to official letterheads, signage at the Pentagon, and global military installations—echoing the $39 million reversal of former President Joe Biden’s renaming of nine Confederate-associated bases, overturned by Hegseth earlier this year.

Additional Trump-led renamings, such as the “Gulf of America” and the reversion of Denali to Mount McKinley, have met resistance from the Mexican government and Alaska’s Republican senators.

Criticism has surfaced, with Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, a member of the armed services committee, questioning the allocation, stating, “Why not direct this funding toward supporting military families or enhancing diplomatic efforts to preempt conflicts?”

The decision ignites a robust discourse on military nomenclature and fiscal priorities as the administration advances its agenda.