President Donald Trump will sign an executive order renaming the Department of Defense on Friday to its former namesake.
The president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have indicated in recent days that they want to change the name of the agency back to the Department of War, as part of the president's 'warrior ethos' campaign within the Pentagon.
A White House official has since confirmed that Trump will roll out the name change on Friday in an executive order that calls for the term 'Department of War' to be used as a secondary title to the Department of Defense and terms like 'Secretary of War' to refer to Hegseth's position.
The order also instructs Hegseth to propose legislative and executive actions to make the name change permanent.
Implementing the executive order will now require the federal government to change its websites, as well as signage at the Pentagon - including changing the name for the press briefing room to the 'Pentagon War Annex,' a White House official said.
