Trump’s Department of War Rebrand Sparks Tens of Millions in Spending

February 24, 2026

Between $10 million and $125 million.

How much is it costing you?

This week – I’m doing a series of stories on how much President Trump’s actions and policies are actually costing you. I’m doing this not to pick on anyone. I’m doing it because – as I always have done – I am reporting on several new reports that have just been released on the costs for American taxpayers.

Part one was the cost of tariffs. Part two was the cost of the National Guard mobilization to multiple cities and today – is part three. The cost of changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. Of course the name change cannot actually happen without an act of congress – which hasn’t happened — so it’s still technically called the Department of Defense – but cosmetically – the Trump administration wants it to be known as the Department of War.

So that cosmetic change includes things like revising websites, modifying letterhead, new signage and ceremonial items and all the staff time that it takes to change those things and update document templates. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office just changing the name will range. It could be as little as $10 million dollars and as much as $125 million. I know you’re thinking – that’s a really wide range…why can’t the CBO pin point an actual amount. And the answer is – because the Pentagon refused to provide information about the scope, speed and cost of its plans to change the name. So – the CBO had to do an estimate analysis based on other name changes the department of defense has undertaken – for example – renaming military bases.

The CBO says the other reason for the large cost discrepancy between $10 million and $125 million to rename everything to the department of war is because it depends on how aggressively the department of defense implements this new title. The CBO uses the example of – if the Department of Defense immediately replaces stationary and orders new Department of War stationary– it’s going to cost more than if the Department of Defense waits till they run out of existing stationary and then when it’s time to reorder, they order stationary that says Department of War. Does that make sense?

The CBO also points out this estimate does not include the cost to the states of changing the name to Department of War. For example – they say the states that have military installations have road signs that may have to change. They point to North Carolina which spent $200,000 changing the road signs for Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty and then back to Fort Bragg.

Cost of changing to Department of War here.