Former President Donald Trump said he would change the name of Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg if he’s elected.

Trump made the remarks on Friday night during a town hall in Fayetteville, N.C., which is near the military installation.

“I walked in — the first question that I asked — should we change the name from Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg? First question,” he said as the crowd cheered. “Right, so here’s what we do — we get elected, I’m doing it. I’m doing it.”

The renaming of Fort Bragg was part of a controversial three-year process to strip the names of Confederate leaders who took up arms against the United States in the Civil War from Army installations. It was part of an effort initiated by top Pentagon officials in 2020.

Congress mandated the Naming Commission in a 2021 annual Pentagon policy bill, giving it the task of identifying items in the Defense Department inventory associated with the Confederacy. Among the items that the commission studied were the names of nine Army installations honoring Confederate generals, including Fort Bragg.

Then-President Trump vetoed the bill, disapproving of the effort to remove Confederate names from the military. Congress overrode the veto, making the changes law. Fort Bragg was renamed Fort Liberty in 2023. Changing the name of Fort Liberty would require congressional approval.

previous coverage

• Final Army base stripped of Confederate name as Fort Gordon becomes Fort Eisenhower
• ‘Opportunity to make ourselves better’: Fort Bragg becomes Fort Liberty
• ‘Our name may be changing, but our mission is not’: Army’s Fort Benning is now Fort Moore
• When Fort Benning becomes Fort Moore, it will 'honor the Army family’