Trump wants an aircraft carrier named after him
The U.S. Navy is discussing renaming the aircraft carrier USS Doris Miller, currently under construction, in honor of President Donald Trump.
This was reported by CNN and NBC News, citing informed sources.
If the decision is made, it would be an unprecedented step — no aircraft carrier has ever been named after a sitting president.
The Ford-class ship was originally set to be named after Doris "Dorie" Miller, a Black enlisted sailor who became famous during Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The Navy announced this in January 2020, during Trump's first presidential term. According to CNN, discussion of the renaming has been ongoing since early 2026.
At the same time, as the network reports, the Navy is considering naming another warship after Miller. In addition, he has been nominated for the Medal of Honor — the highest U.S. military award. Thomas Bledsoe, Miller's great-nephew, told CNN that the family had not been notified of the change in plans.
According to CNN, within the Navy the ship has effectively stopped being called USS Doris Miller, and its hull number CVN-81 is used instead. In a recent White House executive order on shipbuilding, it also appeared only as CVN-81. The U.S. Navy needs to decide on the name before the keel-laying ceremony, which is expected at the end of the year. Delivery of the ship to the Navy, according to USNI News, is expected no earlier than 2034.
NBC News notes that the authority to name ships belongs to the Secretary of the Navy, but defense secretaries usually take an active part in choosing names for aircraft carriers. Thus, the final decision will be made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and acting head of the U.S. Navy Hung Cao.
Doris Miller served in the Navy from 1939. He worked as a mess attendant and had no training in operating an anti-aircraft gun, but during the attack on Pearl Harbor he took a position at a machine gun and opened fire on Japanese planes, and then helped evacuate the wounded. In 1942, Admiral Chester Nimitz awarded him the Navy Cross. About a year later, Miller died in the Battle of Makin after a Japanese torpedo struck his ship.
