Trump returning Confederacy monument to national cemetery

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is restoring a memorial to the Confederacy at Arlington National Cemetery — less than two years after it was removed.

Called the "Reconciliation Monument," the Confederate monument was originally erected in 1914 and was the creation of sculptor and Confederate veteran Moses Ezekiel.

The order to return the Confederate monument to the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System comes just three years after a congressionally mandated commission recommended that the memorial — along with scores of other military assets that bore Confederate references —be either removed or renamed.

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, the vice chair of that commission, said that the group found that Ezekiel's memorial was "problematic from top to bottom," The Associated Press reported.

But on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a social media post that Ezekiel's "beautiful and historic sculpture" will be "rightfully returned" to Arlington National Cemetery near the artist's burial site.

"It never should have been taken down by woke lemmings," wrote Hegseth. "Unlike the Left, we don't believe in erasing American history — we honor it."

The Pentagon expects it to take about two years to restore the monument to its original site, an official told The Associated Press. Restoring the "Reconciliation Monument" will reportedly cost $10 million.

The monument features a classical female figure, crowned with olive leaves, representing the American South — alongside sanitized depictions of slavery, according to the Associated Press.

Once back in the cemetery, the monument will also feature panels nearby that will offer context about its history, said the official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity about a project still in progress.

Reverting back to Confederate-linked names at Army bases — with a twist

The call to return the "Reconciliation Monument" to Arlington follows earlier Trump administration decisions to revert the names of Army bases back to their original, Confederate-linked names — but with a historical naming twist.

The names at the Army bases now officially honor different figures than the original Confederate fighter honorees.

For example, North Carolina's Fort Bragg was originally named for Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg and rechristened as Fort Liberty before Trump changed the name in March. The base now honors Army Pfc. Ronald L. Bragg, who was awarded a Silver Star for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

Among other renamed bases, Fort Pickett in Virginia, briefly renamed Fort Barfoot, will now honor Distinguished Service Cross recipient 1st Lt. Vernon W. Pickett, who served during World War II.

And Fort Hood in Texas, briefly renamed Fort Cavazos, will now honor Distinguished Service Cross recipient Col. Robert B. Hood, who served during World War I.

Trump: 'Restoring truth and sanity'

Last March, Trump issued an executive order entitled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History."

"Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our nation's history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth."

"The revisionist movement," added Trump, "seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light. Under this historical revision, our Nation's unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.

"Rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame, disregarding the progress America has made and the ideals that continue to inspire millions around the globe."

Trump went on to instruct the Secretary of the Interior to determine whether, since 2021, public monuments, memorials, statues, markers of similar properties …"have been removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology."

The president then ordered the Interior secretary to reinstate such pre-existing monuments — while also ensuring that similar properties "do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people."

Arlington National Cemetery is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army.

Renaming the Navy's USNS Harvey Milk

Hegseth's politically barbed announcement on X (formerly Twitter) announcing the restoration of the Confederacy monument comes a few weeks after he announced that the U.S. Navy is renaming the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson.

Milk was a former Navy officer who later became one of the country's first openly gay officials, winning a position on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He was assassinated on Nov. 27, 1978.

Peterson was a Navy chief who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in combat during World War II.

"We are taking the politics out of ship naming," said Hegseth.

"We're not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about political activists — unlike the previous administration."

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