Donald Trump sends chilling message with new 'Department of War' - and blames 'woke'

Donald Trump has moved to rebrand America's defence department because the previous name was "woke". The US President has signed an executive order that aims to see the Department of Defense renamed as the Department of War.

Mr Trump said he believes the tougher-sounding name is better suited to the government agency that oversees the world's strongest military. "It's a much more appropriate name, especially in light of where the world is right now," he said in the Oval Office, adding it "sends a message of victory". The change is a return to its original name used between 1789 to 1947.

Mr Trump said: "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."

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, appearing alongside the President, said the US "haven't won a major war since" the name change.

He said the name change is "not just about renaming, it's about restoring", adding "words matter".

"We're going to go on offence, not just on defence," he added. "Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct.

"We're going to raise up warriors, not just defenders. So this war department, Mr President, just like America is back."

The executive order allows the name to be used as a "secondary title", with approval from Congress, which has the sole power to establish and rename departments, required for the change to be made permanent.

Mr Trump told reporters last month that "we're just going to do it", adding he was sure Congress would "go along... if we need that".

The administration did not wait around, with the Pentagon's defense.gov website redirecting to war.gov within minutes of the order being signed on Friday.

Mr Trump and Mr Hegseth have looked to uproot what they describe as "woke ideology" from the Pentagon and have changed other names too.

They wanted to restore the names of nine military bases that once honored Confederate leaders, which were changed in 2023 under the Biden administration following a congressionally-mandated review.

Because the original names were no longer allowed under law, Mr Hegseth ordered the bases to be named after new people with similar names.

For instance, Fort Bragg now honours Army Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a decorated Second World War paratrooper, instead of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.