Trump sparks WW3 fears after threatening to change name of this integral US department
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, World War 2, Politics
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Bloomberg
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, World War 2, Politics
Donald Trump has sparked fears of war over a proposed name change, saying 'we want to be offensive, too, if we have to be'.
Global tensions are higher than ever at the moment, with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine still ongoing - despite a major peace deal being discussed earlier this month between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It seems many countries, including the US, are preparing behind the scenes for 'World War 3', and Trump hasn't been shy in discussing this with the press.
The POTUS was speaking to reporters on Monday (August 25) at the Oval Office when he addressed changing the name of the Department of Defense.
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He floated the idea of winding back the clock almost eight decades to revert it to the Department of War, insisting that the current name is 'too defensive'.
He went on to try out the Department of War name a few times, including while meeting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
A reporter asked: "On the Department of War, how do you plan to do that? It requires an act of Congress to rename the Defense Department..."
Trump replied: "We're just going to do it. I'm sure Congress will go along if we need that... Defense is too defensive. We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive, too if we have to be."
It came after he praised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying he had been 'incredible with the, as I call it, the Department of War.'
He added: "You know, we call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we're going to change the name. You want to know the truth. I think we're going to have some information on that may be soon."
He insisted the US had an 'unbelievable history of victory' under the previous name, before it was changed in 1947.
Q: "On the Department of War, how do you plan to do that? It requires an act of Congress to rename the Defense Department..."
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 25, 2025
President Trump: "We're just going to do it. I'm sure Congress will go along if we need that...Defense is too defensive. We want to be defensive, but we… pic.twitter.com/tfj3jhGVhY
Trump initially said the change would happen 'over the next week or so' but later changed tack, saying he'd leave it up to Hegseth: "If everyone likes it, we'll make that change."
In June, he said the name change was done because 'we became politically correct.'
The name was changed to Defense after World War II, after the Department Of War oversaw the Army, and the Navy was also brought into a single Cabinet-level agency.
The two agencies had operated separately for over a century.
President Harry Truman was the one who called for the different branches of service to be united under the Department of National Defense name in 1947.
He insisted it would 'cut costs and at the same time enhance our national security'.
The move went ahead in 1947 with a single Secretary Of Defense, and then the name was changed to the Department of Defense by Congress two years later.
One commenter replied to the news: "I just thinking outloud, but I don't like it. One portrays that we're in wars, the other portrays that we will defend ourselves!"
"Sounds like the world’s worst rebrand, but at least it’s honest," added another.
"It was renamed that by CONGRESS. So if he wants to change it he can head back over there," insisted one critic.
Only time will tell if the name change goes through.