Trump signs executive order rebranding Pentagon as Department of War

Directive will make Department of War secondary title and is way to get around need for congressional approval

Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a callback to the department’s original name used from 1789 to 1947.

The directive will make Department of War the secondary title, and is a way to get around the need for congressional approval to formally rename a federal agency, an administration official said.