Trump's 'Department Of War' Rebrand Could Have Staggering Cost: Report

Source: Huff Post

Nov 13, 2025, 03:19 PM EST | Updated 11 hours ago


A little over two months after President Donald Trump announced a rebrand of the Department of Defense to rename it the Department of War, an NBC News report citing six people with knowledge of the matter has revealed the potential cost: up to $2 billion.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth teased the change on social media in September, writing, “DEPARTMENT OF WAR” and linking to a related Fox News report. The White House then confirmed as much to HuffPost, with an executive order about the plan following after.

The rename would require thousands of signs, placards, letterheads and badges to be changed, according to two senior Republican congressional staffers, two senior Democratic congressional staffers and two anonymous people briefed on the cost, per NBC News. The four staffers and one of the people briefed added that new letterheads and signage alone could cost taxpayers $1 billion. The staffers said rewriting the code for all of the department’s websites and internal applications would also be significantly expensive.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told the outlet in an emailed statement that a total cost for the change has yet to be determined, but that the new name will be “permanent,” before blaming Democrats for the government shutdown and his lack of an exact figure. A Department of War existed previously, specifically from 1789 to 1947. Trump claimed in June it was renamed with “Defense” because “we became politically correct.”

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-department-of-war-rebrand-cost-report_n_69160ce6e4b0dd708f39aa25