CNN reported on August 20, 2026 that the Navy is working to rename the future aircraft carrier CVN-81, currently designated the USS Doris Miller, and is considering naming it after Trump.
Doris Miller was a Navy mess attendant from Waco, Texas. During the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 he manned an anti-aircraft gun he had never been trained to use. Under a 2020 initiative, CVN-81 was to be the first aircraft carrier named for an enlisted sailor and the first named for an African American.
Sources familiar with internal discussions told CNN that Navy leadership has effectively stopped calling the ship the USS Doris Miller in internal communications, referring to it only by its hull number.
Naming an aircraft carrier for a sitting president would be unprecedented. Carriers have been named for presidents before, but posthumously or long after they left office.
The Navy is reportedly proposing to name a different warship for Miller and to recommend him for the Medal of Honor. That award would require approval from Congress and from Trump.
Update (September 18, 2026): as of mid-September the Navy has still announced no name change, and a Pentagon official said there was nothing official to announce. The reporting remains two outlets' anonymously sourced accounts of internal deliberations.
The reaction has been sustained. Thomas Bledsoe, Miller's great-nephew, told CNN it “was quite a shock” to learn of the potential change, and that hearing it from a news outlet rather than the Navy “caused a lot of concern and uncertainty.” He added, “This isn't just about a name on a ship. It's about an opportunity and a goal. It's about a significance in what it means to be an American.”
NAACP president Derrick Johnson called the reports “a slap in the face to every war hero and to every service member who has worn the uniform,” writing, “It's beyond comprehension for a president to want his own name on a Navy ship while our armed forces are living in deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.”
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a retired Navy captain, said, “Dorie Miller's bravery at Pearl Harbor is legendary and resulted in him being awarded the Navy Cross. This aircraft carrier shouldn't be renamed at all, let alone for Donald Trump, who has denigrated service members like Dorie Miller who have paid the ultimate price.” Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ) said, “The audacity to even suggest that we replace the name of Doris Miller, a hero whose courage shined on one of our nation's darkest days, with draft-dodging Donald Trump is disgusting.”
Update (October 2, 2026): Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he would introduce three bills on October 1 to stop the rename: one barring federal funds for renaming the ship, one banning ships named for a sitting president or vice president, and one requiring more disclosure to Congress on ship naming, NBC News reported. “No president should ever christen or rename a warship in his own honor, and no American hero should be erased to make room for one,” Booker said. NBC reported that the decision rests with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, and two U.S. officials said awarding Miller the Medal of Honor is one way leaders could justify changing the ship's name.
Update (October 5, 2026): Booker's three bills were referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Military.com reported, and no change to the ship's name has been finalized.