The Trump administration is actively drawing up plans to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a move that would resurrect a name last used in 1947, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing a White House official.

According to the WSJ report, the White House is exploring various methods to implement the change, which could require an act of Congress.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly advocated for the idea since taking office, stating on Monday, "As Department of War, we won everything. We won everything… I think we’re going to have to go back to that."

In a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, he also remarked that the old name "has a stronger sound" and suggested the change would be made "over the next week or so."

The Wall Street Journal, citing a former official, reported that the Pentagon began developing legislative proposals for the rebranding early in President Trump's second term.

One of the proposals considered was to ask Congress for the authority to restore the former name during a national emergency, which would also revive the title of "secretary of war" for the department's top civilian leader.

The name and structure of the U.S. military's civilian oversight have evolved significantly since the Department of War was first established in 1789 to oversee the Army, while a separate Department of the Navy managed naval forces, the report noted.

Following World War II, President Harry S. Truman sought to unify the armed forces, leading Congress to pass legislation in 1947 that created the National Military Establishment.

This new organization merged the War and Navy Departments with the newly independent Air Force under a single civilian secretary of defense.

The unification faced significant opposition at the time, particularly from the Department of the Navy over losing its independent status.

In 1949, Congress discarded the National Military Establishment name, rebranding it as the Department of Defense and granting the cabinet-level secretary greater authority, which in turn sparked concerns that the position could become a "military dictator," according to a 1949 news report cited by the Journal.

President Trump’s stated concern, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, is that the current title is not sufficiently bellicose.

"They changed it when we became a little bit politically correct," he said in April.

The president also raised the idea at a NATO summit in June, remarking, "It used to be called Secretary of War. Maybe we’ll have to start thinking about changing it." His sentiment was echoed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who, according to the report, commented during a cabinet meeting that the name Department of Defense "just doesn’t sound right."