Controversial: Will Donald Trump's name replace the hero of Pearl Harbor?
The US Navy is considering naming the new aircraft carrier after the incumbent president — for the first time in history. In such a case, Donald Trump's name would replace the memory of a black sailor who became a hero during the World War II disaster.
The US Navy is considering changing the name of a new aircraft carrier under construction, which was supposed to be named after Doris "Dorie" Miller, a black sailor who became a hero following the attack on Pearl Harbor, and naming it instead after President Donald Trump. This was reported by CNN, citing three sources familiar with the internal discussions.
Two sources stated that there have been talks within the US Navy about the possibility of giving the aircraft carrier, numbered CVN-81, Trump's name. If the move is approved, it would be an unprecedented step, as no US aircraft carrier has been named after an incumbent president.
The Navy is simultaneously examining the possibility of naming another vessel after Miller and recommending that he be awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration in the United States, posthumously. Miller's nephew said that the family had not been updated on the plan to change the name, but welcomed the effort to award him the medal.
Miller, a Texas native, enlisted in the Navy in 1939, at a time when many roles were closed to black soldiers. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he assisted his wounded commander and subsequently took control of an anti-aircraft machine gun, despite not being trained to use it, and fired at Japanese aircraft. He received the Navy Cross and was killed about two years later in battle in the Pacific Ocean.
The original decision to name the aircraft carrier after him was made in 2020, during Trump's first term. It was supposed to be the first aircraft carrier named after an enlisted sailor and the first named after an African American.
According to CNN, the Navy has recently stopped referring to the vessel by the name "USS Doris Miller" in internal documents and uses mainly its number. A recent presidential order issued by the White House also referred to it only as CVN-81.
The discussions are taking place as part of a broader policy at the Pentagon under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, which includes a re-examination of names chosen in recent years as part of diversity and inclusion policies. The Navy is under pressure to decide on the matter this year, before the aircraft carrier's keel-laying ceremony.
