Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has sparked controversy over possibly returning the Department of Defense to its original brand, the Department of War, in what can only be described as an unexpected move.  ,  ,
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Hegseth used X to conduct an informal ballot that received about 170, 000 vote in under 18 hours. According to the findings, Americans overwhelmingly prefer” Department of War” over” Department of Defense.”
Better brand, please?
Have your thoughts, please. # PeoplesPentagon
— Pete Hegseth ( @Pete Hegseth ) March 22, 2025
Elon Musk chimed in, saying that “war is more precise.”
This proposed shift contradicts everything I can see. Trump has hailed his report as the only modern leader to keep America out of new wars, a feat that has been honored by his supporters. Returning to” Department of War” seems curiously out of phase with his peace-through-strength philosophy, given that.  ,
Why not refer to it as the” Department of Peace”? That may better represent Trump’s commitment to preventing pointless war. However, he has also given the most potent and lethal war in the world a higher priority, making” Department of War” a wise decision in its own right.
The Department of War was one of only four original government ministries created under George Washington’s leadership in 1789, with Secretary Henry Knox as its first president, for those interested in history. Up until 1947, when President Truman’s National Security Act reorganized our defense framework, it operated under that brand.
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Before settling on” Department of Defense” in 1949, the bureaucratic evolution went through a difficult transition known as the” National Military Establishment” ( NME). The National Security Council, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Air Force are all among the important institutions that were established by the same action.
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No official confirmation exists whether the administration is seriously considering this change, or if it’s just Hegseth testing the waters, despite Trump’s recent reference to the” Department of War” in a Truth Social post. If a shift wasn’t taken into account, it’s difficult to accept that he would publish such a thing.
As you may well be aware, the Trump administration has not been the first to address national terminology. The leader has now changed the name of Mount Denali in Alaska to Mount McKinley and the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The Department of Defense may undoubtedly been renamed in the same way if these adjustments were contentious.
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Regardless of the last count, the more tapping issue is why this conversation is taking place right now. The poll is open for another day.  ,
One has to know whether a administrative rebranding deserves focus attention given the numerous global challenges facing our military. No likely. I prefer to see more mortality and the elimination of woke ideology and DEI from our defense as the focus of attention.
I cast my vote in the surveys and chose to keep the name Department of Defense. Is it necessary to make a change if Elon Musk is correct to say that” War” is more appropriate?
I’m no convinced.
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