Several U.S. Army bases will be returning to their original names, President Donald Trump announced during a speech at Fort Bragg.
Trump, who is gearing up for Saturday’s historic celebration in Washington marking the Army’s 250th birthday, coinciding with Flag Day and the president’s 79th birthday, hit up the North Carolina base Monday afternoon.
Much like one of the themes of Saturday’s celebration, a celebration of the Army’s history and traditions, Trump, who was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, underscored their commitment to affirming the Army’s history.
The president used the event to announce that several Army bases would be restored to their original names.
“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, Fort A.P. Hill, and Fort Robert E. Lee,” Trump announced to the crowd. “We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It’s no time to change. And I’m superstitious. I like to keep it going.”
Fort Bragg is one of several Army bases renamed under the Biden administration due to the bases’ Confederate namesakes.
Fort Bragg, briefly named Fort Liberty, was returned to Fort Bragg in honor of Pfc. Roland Bragg, a World War II hero. It was initially named after General Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general.
In addition to Bragg, the administration previously returned the Georgia Army base, Fort Benning, to its original name after it was renamed Fort Moore.
Virginia bases, Fort Pickett (previously Fort Barfoot), Fort AP Hill (previously Fort Walker) and Fort Lee (previously Fort Gregg Adams) are among those to be renamed.
In addition, the name changes include Fort Hood (previously Fort Cavazos), Fort Gordon (previously Fort Eisenhower), Fort Rucker (previously Fort Novosel), and Fort Polk (previously Fort Johnson).
Hegseth decried what he described as a culture of political correctness in the military, telling soldiers that the Army is returning to its warfighting ethos.
“Standards, accountability, readiness, training, war fighting, lethality. We’re not a college or a university. We’re not interested in your woke garbage and your political correctness. We’re warfighters,” Hegseth told the cheering crowd.
Trump also addressed the violent protests ongoing in Los Angeles, where he deployed the state’s National Guard and some Marines to help restore law and order to the situation.
“Generations of Army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third world lawlessness here at home, like is happening in California,” Trump said. “As commander in chief, I will not let that happen. It’s never going to happen. What you’re witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has filed suit against the president over his decision to deploy the state’s National Guard.
