President Trump will rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War through executive action, a move he’s been hinting at for weeks. 

He will sign an executive order Friday, according to the White House. 

It’s not a move Mr. Trump can make on his own; a name change would require an act of Congress. 

But what Mr. Trump will do Friday is authorize the use of “secondary titles,” which would let the Department of Defense use the moniker “Department of War.”

It’s a reversion to a previous name.

The Department of War was created as a Cabinet-level agency, along with the Navy Department, in 1789 and remained that until 1947, when the Truman administration split the Army, Navy and newly created Air Force into their own departments and then merged them into one department. It was officially named the Department of Defense in 1949. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted “Department of War” in cheering, all-capital letters on X on Thursday evening, while reposting the Fox News article that first reported the planned executive order. 

Last month, the president said he was ready to rename the department. It’s part of his push to remake the image of strength associated with the military. 

“I think ’Department of War’, it just sounded better,” he said. “We want defense, but we want offense too, if that’s OK. So you’ll make a decision. But you know, as Department of War, we won everything.”

For Mr. Hegseth, it has been an idea on his mind since soon after he started the position. He posted a survey on X in March asking whether the Defense Department should be renamed

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.