President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday renaming the Department of Defense the “Department of War.” The move on its own has no legal power; officially changing the name would require approval by Congress, though the White House is reportedly looking for ways around that. Changing the signage and branding for the government’s largest department, with facilities and bases around the world, would also be extremely expensive. As Reuters notes, the Biden administration’s now-scuttled plan to rename just nine Army bases that honor Confederate leaders was set to cost around $39 million.

Why is it worth it? In an Oval Office event last month, Trump explained that the name Department of Defense “didn’t sound good to me … it used to be called the Department of War. It had a stronger sound, and as you know, we won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything. Now we have a Department of Defense; we’re defenders. I don’t........

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