WIREDGOV

The War Department was abolished for a reason. Bringing it back won’t make America stronger.

With the stroke of a pen, President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to be renamed the Department of War. It is a dramatic gesture, but one that leaves the US looking smaller, not stronger. He defended the change by noting America ‘won World War I and World War II’ under the old name and insisting that ‘we want offense too.’ But that outlook is precisely what alarms allies and emboldens adversaries: it signals that Washington defines itself by fighting wars, not by preventing them.

The Department of War was a narrow institution, abolished more than seventy-five years ago because it was inadequate for America’s global responsibilities. Rebranding the Department of Defense under that name again does nothing to upgrade US capabilities, strengthen alliances, or dissuade adversaries. It is symbolism masquerading as strategy. At a time when America faces real defence challenges – from modernising its nuclear arsenal to deterring Russia and China – choosing to rename the Pentagon is a distraction that confuses rhetoric with readiness.

The War Department, created in 1789, was a limited institution. It oversaw only the Army (including what were then the Army Air Forces). The Navy had its own cabinet-level department, the Marine Corps was subordinate to that, and the Air Force as an independent service did not yet exist. What Americans call ‘the Pentagon’ today – the massive complex completed in 1943 – was built to house the War Department. But the building outlived the institution it was meant to house.