Do President Trump and Secretary of Defense Hegseth Really Not Know that the Department of Defense Was NEVER the Department of War or Do They Just Believe Most Americans Are Too Ignorant to Know it?

The Old Colonel has previously posted on this issue (https://old-soldier-colonel.blogspot.com/2025/09/once-again-washington-post-demonstrates.html) but on 11 November 2025 I watched on CSPAN (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS0nTgU5TP0) President Trump’s Veterans Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery and once again he needs to either stop with his revisionist history or somebody needs to give him a history lesson because he repeated his misinformation that he changed the name of the Department of Defense back to the Department of War. The Department of Defense has  NEVER been named the Department of War, NEVER! Here are the FACTS:

Shortly after the establishment of a government under President George Washington in 1789, Congress established the War Department as a civilian agency to administer the field army under the president (as commander-in-chief) and the Secretary of War as a member of the Cabinet. The Department of War also had responsibility for naval affairs from 1794 until the establishment of the Department of the Navy in 1798.

By the National Security Act of 1947, the Department of the Navy and the Department of War had a new single Secretary imposed over the top of their two previously independent Cabinet secretaries. THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR CHANGED ITS NAME TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY and split off the Department of the Air Force. The new Cabinet-level department was initially designated the National Military Establishment (NME). In 1949, the NME was renamed the Department of Defense.

On 5 September 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing "Department of War" and "Secretary of War" as SECONDARY titles to the main titles of "Department of Defense" and "Secretary of Defense." The terms must be accommodated by federal agencies and are ONLY permitted in executive branch communications, ceremonial settings, and non-statutory documents. ONLY an act of Congress can legally and formally change the department's name and secretary's title, so "Department of Defense" and "Secretary of Defense" remain the ONLY legally official names and titles.