Night-time restrictions imposed as Trump criticizes ‘overseas adversaries’ – DW – 06/11/2025

US President Donald Trump declared that the country’s military installations, which had their names changed following the 2023 racial justice protests, will be reverted to their original Confederate names. This decision comes in response to the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

“Additionally, we will be restoring the original names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort AP Hill, and Fort Robert E. Lee,” Trump announced at Fort Bragg, which was earlier this year renamed back to its original title from Fort Liberty.

“We won numerous battles from those forts. It’s not the time for change,” he stated.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth bypassed a Congressional provision that sought to rename sites with ties to the Confederacy, instead stating that the old names of the bases were being used to honor individuals who shared names with Confederate officials.

For instance, the original Fort Lee, named after Confederate commander Robert E. Lee, was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in 2023. Under Trump’s new directive, it would now be named after Private Fitz Lee, a Medal of Honor recipient from the Spanish-American War.

Many Americans view Confederate symbols, such as flags and base names, as representations of white supremacy. The Confederacy consisted of US states that rebelled to preserve slavery and other interests, ultimately losing the American Civil War.