Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, the president said, in part, “It just sounded bad to me, ‘On behalf of the Department of Defense?’ Defense? I don’t want to be defense only. We want defense but we want offense, too, if that’s OK. As the Department of War, we won everything, and I think we’re going to have to go back to that.”
Hegseth, standing behind him, said, “That’s coming soon, sir.”
Trump quickly said, “You let me know if you want to do it.”
The Pentagon carried that name until 1949, when it was rebranded amid post–World War II restructuring.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
