Another day, another executive order from Donald Trump that literally no one asked for. OK, that might be a stretch, because Pete Hegseth was likely all for it, but according to Huffpost, Trump signed an order to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War. This is also the man who promised no war for the United States during his second term, so there’s that.
Per the Associated Press, the goal of this rebranding is to strengthen military presence and forces around the world. However, people aren’t happy with the idea of changing the name or any potential reasoning behind it.
Many took to social media to slam Trump’s Department of Defense rebranding and to criticize Trump’s move with militarizing various US cities too.
Nothing to see here. Just the U.S. President threatening to use the Department of War against the people of Chicago. pic.twitter.com/FiImcQ15QF
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) September 6, 2025
Not everyone supports Trump rebranding the Department of Defense into the Department of War.
After the Department Formerly Known as Defense was announced, those who were not thrilled with the idea took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their thoughts. Most didn’t understand the point, while others pointed out how Trump has ordered the country’s own military to act on civilians in cities like Chicago and DC.
“Why are we, the taxpayers, going to pay $2 billion so Trump can rebrand & change the name from ‘Department of Defense’ to the ‘Department of WAR’?” Someone posted. “That doesn’t sound very peaceful to me. Trump is attacking our own cities & civilians. WTF is wrong with morons supporting this?”
Someone else posted, “If ‘violence isn’t the answer’, why do we now have the Department of War? Could it be this very rhetoric that has pushed political violence in our country? Golly, I don’t know.”
Another Trump critic called it a “terrible excuse for a distraction” from more details about the Epstein Files.
Others could barely contain their rage on X.
“Like I want to say that it can’t get more stupid but they’ll just keep finding new ways to make it dumber, like a bottomless pit,” someone wrote in their post. “‘Department of War’? Are you trying to sound cool like you’re f—–g twelve?”
Changing the name of the Department of Defense back to the Department of War might be the dumbest, most unnecessary move I’ve ever seen. I love the way both parties toss decorum scraps to their constituencies without ever meaningfully improving the lives of normal Americans
— Iggmeister (@iggidigit) September 7, 2025
Trump revealed his reason behind rebranding the Department of Defense.
The AP reported that Trump wanted the rest of the world to better understand the power of the US military. He also reportedly said the previous, longstanding name for the department was too “woke.” He said that the new name “sends a message of strength” to other countries. Although he has to get Congress to officially sign off on the change, there is already an official Department of War account on X.
And well before Trump signed the executive order to rebrand the Department of Defense, Hegseth had shared a poll to his personal X account to get opinions on changing the name.
In March 2025, Hegseth posted the poll, which ended with the Department of War winning by less than 10%. You might think that would deter Hegseth and Trump from moving forward with the plans, but apparently, it was just to reassure themselves they were doing the right thing.
And I use that term pretty lightly here.
