Donald Trump's "Department of War" name change is mostly political theatre

Hall, Jonny ORCID: 0000-0002-4268-3845 (2025) Donald Trump's "Department of War" name change is mostly political theatre. USApp – American Politics and Policy Blog (18 Sep 2025). Blog Entry.

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Abstract

In early September, President Trump issued an executive order directing that the US Department of Defense would again be known as the “Department of War”. Jonny Hall writes that the move aligns with the Trump administration’s campaign against perceived ‘wokeness’ in the US military and is an attempt to reaffirm the US as a “winner”. He argues that while the implications of the policy remain to be seen, the renaming is symbolic of the continued reduction of America’s soft power capabilities.

Item Type:	Online resource (Blog Entry)
Official URL:	https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	International Relations
Subjects:	J Political Science > JK Political institutions (United States) J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Date Deposited:	28 Oct 2025 15:57
Last Modified:	29 Oct 2025 09:24
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/129764

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