Media: Trump prepares executive order to rename Pentagon into Department of War

US President Donald Trump plans to officially announce the launch of the process to rename the Pentagon on 5 September, with a White House source confirming this information.

As reported by Fox News, an unnamed White House source told the channel that this Friday 5 September, Donald Trump will sign an executive order to rename the Pentagon, the Department of Defense, to the Department of War – as it was in the past.

Trump announced his intention to do this at the end of August

The source said that the order will stipulate the use of the name "Department of War" as an alternative designation for the Department of Defense and require that the minister’s title be changed accordingly.

It will also contain instructions for Pete Hegseth, the head of the department, to take steps to establish "Department of War" as the primary name.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reposted the Fox News story on her X (Twitter) account, quoting the headline about Trump renaming the Pentagon.

Trump to rename Pentagon, restoring historic ‘Department of War’ in latest military movehttps://t.co/9cERxkm9ss

– Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) September 4, 2025

At the beginning of his second term, Donald Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the American Gulf, after which he pressured the media for refusing to use the new name.