President Donald Trump on Monday floated renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War.

Trump suggested reverting the Department of Defense back to its old name during a meeting at the White House with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.

“[Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth has been incredible with the, as I call it, the Department of War. You know, we call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we’re going to change the name,” the president said. “You want to know the truth, I think we’re going to have some information on that maybe soon.”

The United States previously had a War Department; it was established by President George Washington in 1789 and lasted until a reorganization of the department in 1947 by President Harry Truman. “Defense” was added to the moniker two years later.

The president elaborated further on the difference between the Department of Defense and the Department of War in the Oval Office.

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“It used to be called the Department of War, and it had a stronger sound and, as you know, we won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything. Now, we have a Department of Defense with defenders,” Trump said.

“I don’t want to be defense only. We want defense, but we want offense, too, if that’s okay,” he continued, adding, “as Department of War, we won everything. We won everything. And I think we’re gonna have to go back to that.”

A reporter told Trump that officially renaming the Department of Defence would require an act of Congress. Trump replied that he did not think it would, but regardless, he guessed that Congress would approve such a name change if Congress is needed. GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said Monday that he would introduce legislation to codify the name change.

I’m drafting a bill to restore the Department of War to its original name—the only name that captures the full range of America’s military capabilitiespic.twitter.com/n1NjoEwBFZ https://t.co/4DeDDQfp3o

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) August 25, 2025

Trump has previously hinted at bringing the old name for the Defense Department back. In June, Trump joked with reporters that he would temporarily revert the Department of Defense to the Department of War after the successful U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities.

“You know it used to be called secretary of war,” said Trump. “Maybe for a couple of weeks, we’ll call it that because we feel like warriors.”

Despite the apparent push to drop “Defense” from the Defense Department, Trump and the White House have touted his presidency as one of peace, going so far as to call Trump the “peacemaker-in-chief” for the conflicts and near-conflicts he has helped to solve since taking office in January.

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that August 26 would be set aside to commemorate the American service members who were killed or wounded in the terror attack at Abbey Gate during former President Joe Biden’s disastrous troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Surrounded by Gold Star families who’d lost a loved one in the attack, Trump issued a proclamation declaring August 26, 2025, as a day to remember both their heroic service to their country and his administration’s promise to never “allow our military service members to be so betrayed, our friends to be so abandoned, and our credibility to be so destroyed.”

President Trump officially proclaims August 26, 2025, as a day in commemoration of the 4th anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate.

Here is the Proclamation’s text:

On one of the darkest days in our Nation’s history, 4 years ago, the gates of hell sprung open when an evil… pic.twitter.com/4qVzUiKBAW

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 25, 2025

The proclamation read, in part:

On one of the darkest days in our Nation’s history, 4 years ago, the gates of hell sprung open when an evil Jihadi terrorist carried out a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan — killing 13 heroes of our United States Armed Forces and shattering the hearts of Americans and our allies. As our Nation remembers this atrocious attack, we honor the memory of every brave warrior who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We join in grief with the families who senselessly lost a loved one, and we renew our solemn pledge to our 13 fallen patriots — we will never forget you; we will never forsake you; and your memory will live on forever.

…

In what will be remembered as one of the most shameful and heartbreaking moments in our Nation’s collective memory, Joe Biden checked his watch — and time stood still — as a Sailor, Soldier, and 11 Marines returned home in flag-draped coffins, solemnly escorted by their brothers and sisters in arms. We will never forget the names of the 13 brave souls who shed their blood for our Nation: Staff Sergeant Darin T. Hoover, USMC; Sergeant Johanny Rosario Pichardo, USMC; Sergeant Nicole L. Gee, USMC; Corporal Hunter Lopez, USMC; Corporal Daegan W. Page, USMC; Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez, USMC; Lance Corporal David L. Espinoza, USMC; Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz, USMC; Lance Corporal Rylee J. McCollum, USMC; Lance Corporal Dylan R. Merola, USMC; Lance Corporal Kareem M. Nikoui, USMC; Petty Officer Third Class Maxton W. Soviak, USN; and Staff Sergeant Ryan C. Knauss, USA.

“I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim August 26, 2025, as a day in commemoration of the 4th anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate,” Trump’s proclamation concluded. “I encourage all Americans to remember the heroism of the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and the Gold Star Families who carry on their proud legacy.”

President Trump officially proclaims August 26, 2025, as a day in commemoration of the 4th anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate.

Here is the Proclamation’s text:

On one of the darkest days in our Nation’s history, 4 years ago, the gates of hell sprung open when an evil… pic.twitter.com/4qVzUiKBAW

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 25, 2025

.@POTUS signs the proclamation commemorating the 4th anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate https://t.co/lvHXqjKHgg pic.twitter.com/AaLpBgYspz

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 25, 2025

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined Trump in the Oval Office to repeat his promise to get to the bottom of what happened in Afghanistan in the ays leading up to the terror attack.

.@SecDef joins @POTUS and Gold Star families in the Oval Office: “On behalf of this beautiful group… America deserves answers as far as what happened in Afghanistan. The military needs to answer for what happened in Afghanistan.” pic.twitter.com/pDS1SOjK35

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 25, 2025