Aircraft carrier named after Trump - and journalists fired: the new storms at the Pentagon

The US Navy is considering removing the name of Doris Miller, an African-American hero of Pearl Harbor, from a new aircraft carrier and naming it after the sitting president, Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has fired three senior officials from the military newspaper 'Stars and Stripes' after they insisted on its editorial independence. The background: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's struggle for control over the messages coming out of the military.

Two storms at the Pentagon and the US Navy are reigniting questions about the Trump administration's influence on military institutions. The Navy is considering changing the name of the nuclear aircraft carrier CVN-81, which was supposed to be named after Doris Miller, an African-American hero of the Pearl Harbor attack. According to CNN, three sources said a process of reviewing the name change is underway, and two of them said there have been discussions about naming it after Trump. If the move goes ahead while he is in office, it would be the first time an American aircraft carrier is named after a sitting president. Meanwhile, the Defense Department has fired publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Eric Slavin, and Middle East correspondent Lara Corta from 'Stars and Stripes'. The reason: 'disobedience', after they gave interviews to CBS and expressed opposition to Pentagon interference in the newspaper's content. Slavine said he was fired because of his comments in the interview, in which he described censorship of news intended for soldiers as a 'red line'.