US President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense the "Department of War." Trump said this sends a "message of victory" to the whole world, AFP reported.

During the ceremony in Washington, he was joined by Pentagon chief Pete Hagseth, and the Republican president said that the current name, used for more than 70 years, was too politically correct.

"I think it sends a message of victory," Trump said in the Oval Office about the renaming. "The name is much more appropriate, given the state of the world right now."

The new name goes back to "Department of War," which was used for over 150 years — from 1789, after independence from Britain, to 1947, shortly after World War II.

Trump cannot officially change the name of the Pentagon without congressional approval, but his executive order allows the new name to be used as a "secondary" designation. 

The president even blamed American military failures after victories in World War I and World War II on the 1949 decision to rename the department the Department of Defense.

"We could have won every war, but we really chose to be very politically correct," Trump said.

Former Fox News host Pete Hagseth, appointed by Trump to lead a major restructuring of the vast department, said the change was "not just about renaming, but about restoring the fighting spirit." | BGNES