Trump Doubles Down on Base Renaming With New Threat

An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act regarding the renaming of US military bases paying tribute to Confederate leaders has already been approved in a voice vote by the Senate's Armed Services Committee. But President Trump has just made clear he doesn't intend to let it get very far as part of this year's proposed $740 billion annual defense bill. The amendment, proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren in early June, would mandate that the Defense Department nix any names honoring the Confederacy at 10 military bases within three years' time. The same would apply to any monuments or other Confederacy-tied items at all defense facilities, per the Washington Post. Last month, Trump posted, "Hopefully our great Republican Senators won't fall for this!" and he doubled down on his complaint on Wednesday morning, this time issuing a sterner declaration.

"I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill!" he tweeted. The Post and Politico note that Trump is increasingly finding himself alone in this stance, with GOP senators and military bigwigs like Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy publicly noting they'd consider new names and a scrubbing of Confederate-tied paraphernalia. In a Tuesday presser, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer scoffed at the idea of a veto and dared to Trump to do so. "It has bipartisan support," he said of the amendment, per the Post. "It will stay in the bill." (More Confederate stories.)