Since taking office in January, Trump has set out to rename a range of places and institutions, including the Gulf of Mexico, and to restore the original names of military bases that were changed after far-left protests.
Department name changes are rare and require congressional approval, but Trump’s fellow Republicans hold majorities in both the senate and House of Representatives.
The US Department of Defense was called the War Department until 1949, when Congress consolidated the Army, Navy and Air Force in the wake of World War Two. The name was chosen in part to signal that in the nuclear age, the US was focused on preventing wars, according to historians.