‘Secretary of War’ plaques installed at Pentagon after Trump’s renaming order

Plaques bearing the title of US Secretary of Defense — now updated to “Secretary of War” for Pete Hegseth — were replaced at the Pentagon on Friday, shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense the “Department of War.”

Read: Trump proposes renaming Defense Department as 'Department of War'

The White House said the order authorises Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and subordinate officials to use secondary titles such as “Secretary of War” and “Deputy Secretary of War” in official correspondence and public communications. Workers at the Pentagon were seen replacing plaques outside offices soon after the announcement.

Plaques for the US Secretary of Defense (now ‘Secretary of War’), Pete Hegseth [Source: Screenshot, Reuters]

The Department of War was the US military’s official name until 1949, when Congress consolidated the Army, Navy and newly formed Air Force under the Department of Defense to reflect a postwar focus on deterrence in the nuclear age.

The order also instructs Hegseth to recommend legislative and executive steps to cement the renaming. With Republicans holding narrow majorities in Congress, the change is unlikely to face much resistance.

The move marks Trump’s latest effort to rebrand the US military, after presiding over an extraordinary parade in Washington, DC, and restoring the original names of military bases that had been changed following racial justice protests in 2020.

Renaming the Pentagon is expected to be costly, as signs, plaques and letterheads must be updated not only in Washington but also across US military installations worldwide. An earlier effort by former President Joe Biden to rename nine bases honoring Confederate leaders was estimated to cost $39 million before Hegseth reversed it this year.

Critics have warned that the change is unnecessary and politically driven. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democratic veteran, said, "why not put this money toward supporting military families or toward employing diplomats that help prevent conflicts from starting in the first place? Because Trump would rather use our military to score political points than to strengthen our national security and support our brave servicemembers and their families — that’s why.”

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Hegseth, however, defended the order, saying: “Changing the name is not just about words — it’s about the warrior ethos.”

Trump has also argued that the Pentagon’s current name is too cautious. “Defense is too defensive,” he told supporters last month. “We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too if we have to be.”

He further suggested earlier this year that the original name change to “Department of Defense” had been made for “politically correct” reasons.