Navy mulls stripping Black war hero’s name from aircraft carrier for Trump: Sources

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Navy officials are weighing whether to strip the name of one of World War II's most famed Black service members from a new aircraft carrier and instead possibly name the ship for President Donald Trump, according to three sources familiar with the matter, a move that would mark the unprecedented naming of a Navy vessel for a sitting president.

The carrier, which remains under construction in Virginia, was christened in name during Trump’s first administration, when the Navy announced the Ford-class ship would become the USS Doris Miller, honoring Miller's heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, during a ceremony on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2020.

During the 1941 attack, Miller, serving as a cook aboard the USS West Virginia, helped move the ship’s mortally wounded captain to safety before taking control of an anti-aircraft gun, despite having no formal training on the weapon. He was credited with shooting down at least one Japanese aircraft -- a notable feat during an attack in which only 29 of roughly 350 Japanese planes were brought down.

Miller was awarded the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest decoration for combat heroism, behind only the Medal of Honor. The recognition was particularly significant at a time when the military was still racially segregated and Black troops were not always fully recognized for their service.

"Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted in moving his captain, who had been mortally wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge," his award citation reads.

Miller died less than two years later, in November 1943, when a Japanese submarine torpedoed the USS Liscome Bay during the Battle of Makin, killing 700 sailors.

The USS Doris Miller would be the first aircraft carrier named for a Black American and the first to honor an enlisted service member. It would also be the second Navy ship to carry Miller's name. A destroyer named for him entered the fleet in 1972 and was decommissioned in 1991.

CNN first reported that the Navy was considering changing the carrier’s name. The White House referred questions from ABC News to the Pentagon, which did not respond to a request for comment. The Navy also did not respond.

Three sources familiar said that the discussions about renaming the aircraft carrier have been going on most of the summer.

Miller is under strong consideration to have his Navy Cross upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest recognition for combat valor, according to the three sources familiar with the discussions. One of the sources said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently sent a memo to Congress recommending Miller receive the Medal of Honor.

Aircraft carriers are mostly named for presidents, while Medal of Honor recipients are more commonly honored with destroyers, smaller but heavily armed warships built to protect larger vessels and directly engage enemy threats. One source familiar said the service is seeking to name a different ship after Miller.

However, there are exceptions. The USS Carl Vinson, for example, was named for the longtime Democratic congressman from Georgia who became one of the most influential lawmakers on naval affairs.

Renaming a commissioned or planned Navy vessel is relatively uncommon. One of the most prominent recent examples came when the service removed Confederate names from ships as part of a congressionally mandated effort to purge Confederate namesakes from across the Defense Department.

More recently, Hegseth last year ordered the Navy to rename a ship honoring Harvey Milk, the Navy veteran and gay rights activist.

Thomas Bledsoe, Miller's great-nephew and the official spokesperson for the family, told ABC News in a phone interview on Friday morning that talk about stripping Miller’s name from the Navy ship "comes as a shock" to the family.

"Learning of this possibility of the name change comes as a shock to not only myself but my family as well, and we are hoping that this doesn't come to fruition. However, we did hear that in addition to the name change, they may name a different carrier after him," Bledsoe said.

"We are hoping that if it is renamed, there still is the opportunity for another carrier to be named after Doris Miller, as both would be an honor and something that we would take with great pride either way," he added.

But Bledsoe added that the "best outcome" would be not to rename the ship.

"The best outcome would be not to rename it, so that way the generation currently that is in the 60s and 70s would be able to see it actually launch under the Doris Miller's name," he said. "It would come at a disappointment if there isn't -- if the name has changed currently, and it would definitely a disappointment that there is no other ship that would be named after him."

At a White House event in February 2020, Trump, while referencing the Navy’s decision to name the carrier for Miller, appeared to lament that no aircraft carrier had been named for him and suggested that perhaps one eventually would be.

"They won’t give me that honor," Trump said. "That’s a big ship … one day, maybe. But then, in the meantime … aircraft carrier … doesn’t get bigger than that."

President Trump's name has appeared on several things since taking office in his second term.

Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to rename the Palm Beach International Airport the President Donald J. Trump International Airport. Late last year, the State Department changed...

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