President Donald Trump’s insistence on rebranding the Department of Defense as the “Department of War” may inadvertently affect his chances of achieving his long-sought goal of a Nobel Peace Prize.
The president made the name change on Friday via an executive order, claiming it was aimed at projecting American military strength around the globe.
“It’s a much more appropriate name, especially in light of where the world is right now,” Trump said, after claiming the previous name was “woke.”
Maybe, but the decision to adopt a frankly more aggressive name for the department comes at a time when Trump has thirstily been lobbying for the Nobel Peace Prize since his first term in office.
In June, he even claimed he should have won “four or five” Nobel Prizes already. He even called Norway’s finance minister in July to tell him he wanted one.
Many people on social media noted the contrast between the war-centric rebranding of the Defense Department and Trump’s insistence on still being known as the ultimate “peacemaker.”
Memo to @POTUS:
Probably best to leave the whole Dept. of War rebranding off of your Nobel Peace Prize campaign materials. https://t.co/IornZIDm1N— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) September 5, 2025
President #Trump said his goal was to bring peace to the world & win the Nobel Peace Prize…
… so naturally, he's just renamed the Department of Defense as the Department of War.
That makes sense. pic.twitter.com/NhMVB3FJI7
— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) September 5, 2025
Nothing says “Nobel Peace prize” quite like the changing the name of the Department of Defense to the “Department of War.”
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) September 4, 2025
Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize application just got stamped “Department of War” — because nothing says “peacemaker” like rebranding the Pentagon as a Marvel villain’s HQ. (Cost: $50M for new stationery alone.)
This admin burned $39M reversing base renamings meant to address…
— White House Xray (@xray_media) September 5, 2025
Pro tip: If you’ve spent the last decade begging for a Nobel Peace Prize, maybe don’t rebrand the Defense Department as the Department of War. Not exactly a winning strategy.
— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) September 5, 2025
Others pointed out that the DOD name change comes at the behest of someone who avoided military service.
Only someone who avoided the draft would want to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War. https://t.co/WJcyI1ZsID
— Captain Mark Kelly (@CaptMarkKelly) September 4, 2025
The so-called “pro-peace” president wants to rename the Department of Defense…to the Department of War. If Donald Trump were really so gung-ho about fighting, he wouldn’t have dodged the Vietnam War with “bone spurs.” Hypocrisy, served cold. pic.twitter.com/XdwACodKWw
— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) September 4, 2025
But one person was OK with the new name, provided other government agencies also get rebranded.
I actually am in favor of renaming the DoD as the Department of War.
Now change HHS to the Department of Death and Human Suffering, Homeland Security to Homeland Insanity, DoT to the Department of Cars Only, and the DoL to the Department of Capital.
— Daniel 🦋 (@d_feldman) August 31, 2025
