...
By James Bickerton
News Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
On Monday Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he had renamed Fort Liberty in North Carolina to Fort Bragg, restoring its original name that was originally chosen to honor a Confederate general.
Since Donald Trump was inaugurated as president for the second time on January 20 his administration has been on a renaming spree, targeting geographical sites and a government department as part of what his supporters view as a crackdown on "woke" ideology.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Defense on Monday night via email for comment.
Read More on U.S.
Fort Liberty Renamed Back to Fort Bragg
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, published by his official secretary of defense account on Monday, Hegseth announced he had signed a memorandum changing the name of Fort Liberty back to Ford Bragg.
He said: "There it is! Pursuant to the authority of the Secretary of Defense, title 10 United States Code section 113, I direct the Army to change the name of Fort Liberty, North Carolina to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. That's right, Bragg is back."
Posting on his personal account Hegseth later added: "Bragg now. More to come. 🇺🇸"
The memorandum Hegseth signed said the move was to honor Private First Class Roland L. Bragg, who served "with great distinction" during World War II and was stationed for a time at Ford Bragg, rather than the Confederate general.
Fort Bragg is the largest military base in the United States holding over 50,000 military personnel and 60,000 of their family members.
Its name became controversial during the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, and in October 2022 then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin backed a commission that recommended renaming Fort Bragg as Fort Liberty.
In October 2024 then-presidential candidate Trump vowed to change the name back to Fort Bragg if he secured a second White House term.
Gulf of Mexico Renamed Gulf of America
Shortly after his inauguration on January 20 Trump signed Executive Order 14172, titled Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness, which renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
In his proclamation Trump said that "the area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America."
...
Speaking at his first press conference following his inauguration Trump commented: "We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate."
Trump later announced that going forward February 9 would be celebrated as "Gulf of America Day."
Google now refers to the Gulf of America rather than the Gulf of Mexico for U.S. users, despite a request from the Mexican government asking the company not to change the name.
Denali Renamed Back to Mount McKinley
Trump's Executive Order 14172 also changed the name of Denali in Alaska, the highest peak in North America, back to its previous name of Mount McKinley, which was adopted in 1917 to honor America's 25th president.
The executive order said: "President William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, heroically led our Nation to victory in the Spanish-American War. Under his leadership, the United States enjoyed rapid economic growth and prosperity, including an expansion of territorial gains for the Nation.
"President McKinley championed tariffs to protect U.S. manufacturing, boost domestic production, and drive U.S. industrialization and global reach to new heights."
The indigenous Alaskan Athabaskans had long referred to the mountain as Denali, meaning high or tall in their language. This name was adopted by the Alaska Board of Geographic Names in 1975 and federally in 2015 by the Obama administration.
U.S. Digital Service Renamed DOGE
Shortly after his inauguration Trump announced the U.S. Digital Service would be renamed and reorganized as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the leadership of his close ally, the billionaire technology tycoon Elon Musk.
An executive order issued by Trump on January 20 said: "This Executive Order establishes the Department of Government Efficiency to implement the President's DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity."
Under Musk's leadership DOGE has advocated sweeping cuts to federal government spending including abolishing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and moving its services over to the state department.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines