President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he’s ordered the Pentagon to restore the names of seven Army bases to their original designation that honored Confederate generals.
The change fulfills a campaign promise Trump made to revert nine bases in all back to their original names. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reverted back to Fort Bragg and Fort Benning earlier this year.
“For a little breaking news, we are also going to be restoring the names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk and Fort A.P. Hill and Fort Robert E. Lee,” Trump said during a speech at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary.
Fort Bragg was renamed after Private First Class Roland Bragg, a decorated Army paratrooper who served in World War II, not Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, as was the original.
Likewise, Fort Benning was renamed by Hegseth to honor World War I hero Cpl. Fred G. Benning, not Confederate Lt. Gen. Henry Benning.
The bases were renamed in 2023 during the Biden administration following a process that began in 2021. He signed a bill to change the names of bases named after slave state generals in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.
Based on Biden’s commission, he ordered the bases renamed to Fort Barfoot in Virginia, Fort Cavazos in Texas, Fort Eisenhower and Fort Moore in Georgia, Fort Novosel in Alabama, Fort Johnson in Louisiana, Fort Walker in Virginia, Fort Gregg-Adams, also in Virginia, and Fort Liberty in North Carolina.
Changing back the names could take months, Politico reported.
“We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It’s no time to change. And I’m superstitious, you know, I like to keep it going, right? I’m very superstitious,” Trump told the crowd Tuesday.
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