WATCH: Pentagon changes ‘Secretary of Defense’ signage to ‘Secretary of War’

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday renaming the Department of Defense as the Department of War — a long-telegraphed move aimed at projecting American military toughness around the globe.

Watch the Pentagon change its signs in the video player above.

“It’s a much more appropriate name, especially in light of where the world is right now,” Trump said. He said the previous name was “woke.”

WATCH: Trump holds news briefing after signing executive order for ‘Department of War’ moniker

The order comes as some of Trump’s closest supporters on Capitol Hill proposed legislation that would codify the new name into law, with Congress having the sole power to establish, shutter and rename federal departments.

Absent a change in law, Trump will authorize the Pentagon to use secondary titles.

The Department of War was created in 1789, then renamed and reorganized through legislation signed by President Harry Truman in 1947, two years after the end of World War II. The Department of Defense incorporated the Department of War, which oversaw the Army, plus the Department of the Navy and the newly created independent Air Force.

“We decided to go woke and change the name to Department of Defense,” he said. “So we’re going Department of War.”

When confronted with the possibility that making the name change would require an act of Congress, Trump told reporters that “we’re just going to do it.”

“I’m sure Congress will go along,” he said, “if we need that.”