'Make the people you hate mad': Expert reveals what's driving Trump's 'childish' actions

11 June

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace and retired U.S. Naval War College professor Tom Nichols on June 11, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via MSNBC / YouTube)

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have both been spending the last few weeks renaming U.S. military property. One military expert is now offering a theory about what may be motivating them.

The New York Times recently reported that the Trump administration has aimed to re-christen military bases whose Confederate names were removed under former President Joe Biden's tenure, but choosing different namesakes. One example is making the namesake of Fort Lee in Virginia not Confederate General Robert E. Lee, but for Private Fitz Lee, who was a Black soldier in the 19th century. And while the Biden administration changed the name of Fort Bragg (named for Confederate general Braxton Bragg) to Fort Liberty, the Trump administration in February reverted it back to Bragg — but with the namesake changed to that of Private First Class Roland Bragg, who served in World War II.

During a Wednesday segment on MSNBC's "Deadline: White House," host Nicolle Wallace interviewed retired U.S. Naval War College professor and Atlantic columnist Tom Nichols about the administration's quest to rename bases and Navy vessels (like the USNS Harvey Milk) after Confederate generals. Nichols opined that Trump's use of old names with new namesakes was "juvenile."

"It would almost be more admirable if Trump and Hegseth would just come out and say, 'look, we're going to rename Fort Bragg after the Confederate general because we believe in that,'" he said. "And instead they're playing these games like, 'well, it's a different guy named Bragg.'"

The Atlantic columnist also argued that the commander-in-chief spending his time on his "inane and childish campaign" to rename military property betrayed what the 2024 election was really about. According to Nichols, "resentment" and "grievance" are at the heart of the administration's latest actions regarding the military.

"It's about people being angry and wanting to stick it to other Americans," he said. "That's partly why Trump is doing this and going to these military bases, because he's courting the military ... 'We're going to stick it to those people by renaming Fort Bragg, wink, wink.' And not because we really care about the Civil War or Confederate generals, but because it's going to make the people you hate mad."

"That is that tells you what an unserious government this is and what an unserious election we had," he added. "That wasn't really about standards of living. It's about it's about this kind of nonsense."

Watch the clip below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

From Your Site Articles