What's In a Name: 'War' Sends Clarifying Message to Adversaries About Departmental Mission

A little over a year ago, in September 2025, President Donald J. Trump rechristened the Department of Defense as the Department of War - a name it held once before, back when the Pentagon first opened its doors.

The name change sends a clearer message to allies and adversaries alike about the department's mission, said Chief Pentagon Spokesman and Senior Advisor Sean Parnell.

"Critics call the change symbolic, even unnecessary," Parnell wrote in an editorial published today. "They have it backward. Words define the mission, and the mission drives everything else. As for our allies, we owe them a clear statement of our core mission: to fight and win wars. Full stop. Clarity strengthens alliances. Ambiguity invites adversaries to test them."

Parnell has now called on Congress to enshrine in law what the president has done already with an executive order.

"The House and the Senate Armed Services Committee have both backed restoring the Department of War name in this year's defense bill," Parnell said. "Lawmakers should keep it in the final version and send it to the president's desk. The name of the institution that sends Americans to fight belongs in law, not just in an executive order."

While the name Department of War provides clarity, the mission remains the same.

"Our forces will still respond to disasters, support allies and carry out every lawful mission," Parnell said. "And the name changes nothing about the constitutional roles of Congress or the president."

No American wants a war, Parnell said. And a nation can avoid a war by having the strongest military possible, and by making it clear what it's willing to do with that military to preserve the peace. It's part of the president's "peace through strength" initiative.

"The goal of American military strength has never been perpetual war," he said, adding, "It is lasting peace, secured by a force whose ability to prevail is beyond question. We prepare for war so that our adversaries never doubt the cost of starting one."

Parnell said building the strength to preserve the peace is something Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has focused on since his first day in office, even before his department was renamed.

"[The secretary] has made that mission the standard for everything the department does, from restoring the warrior ethos to ensuring our warfighters remain the most lethal fighting force in the world," Parnell said.

That effort, Parnell said, includes not only honing the skills of the men and women in uniform and rededicating them to their mission to fight and win the nation's wars but also giving those service members everything they need to win.

Parnell believes the new name is a reminder of that.

"[It] is a commitment. ... Every acquisition decision, training exercise and strategic investment should answer one question: Does it make our warfighters more capable of defeating any threat?" he said. "From superintelligence and autonomous systems to advanced weapons and a revitalized defense industrial base, the United States must keep building the advantages to deter its adversaries and, if necessary, defeat them."