Let’s be totally honest, it should be “the Department of War”

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter

“On face value, many observers took Trump’s pledge to mean a more hawkish posture by this administration with some on the left and right having a negative reaction to the possible change. He also appears to associate the old name with winning, like a talisman. Unfortunately, aside from Persian Gulf I, most Americans associate World War II as the last time they associate America with ‘winning’ a major war. But for others, even non-interventionists and foreign policy realists, the name change is just more honest.” (09/05/25)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/department-of-war/