President Trump will sign an executive order on Friday to give the Department of Defense a new name: the Department of War.

The change would return the department to a name that it carried for much of its history, until it became the Department of Defense in the wake of World War II. The executive order was confirmed to NPR by a White House official who was not authorized to discuss the matter.

A White House fact sheet explains that under the executive order, the name "Department of War" will serve as a "secondary title" for the Department of Defense.

According to the fact sheet, the order will also authorize Defense Department officials to substitute the word "war" into their titles. For example, the Secretary of Defense could use the title Secretary of War.

Secretary of Defense Pete

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