Trump changes names of places and festivities in an attempt to rewrite the history of the USA

Change a name Not only alters a label. Change the report. And so, I know rewrite the history of a country. In the United States, the President Donald Trump He has turned that logic into state policy. In the blow of decrees, symbolic pressures or executive measures, the Rename of institutions, geographical spaces y national festivities with the explicit objective of projecting a Nationalist narrative Blanca, displacing terms, milestones and names that, in their vision, “denigrate” the Americans. THE OBJECTIVE: Reorder the public language to redefine national identity. And, by extension, its history.

Some of these actions have generated immediate scandal. Others have barely raised an eyebrow outside the academic circles. Trump has been promoting name changes for years for political purposes, even imposing motes on his political rivals. But in his second term he has gone one step further: from removing Kennedy’s name to the operatic center of the capital to give him the absent first lady, Melania Trump, to ask the public officials of national parks to review how the history of the United States is told in the panels of the great monuments of the country, to make sure that he aligns with his ideology of ‘first America’.

Rewrite the story

He Jump of changing names to literally rewrite the storyIt was just a matter of time. In March, Trump signed an order that forces the National Parks Service a Check 433 monuments throughout the country to Eliminate or modify any exposure that “discredit Americans”. In practice, that affects references to slavery, systemic racism, indigenous oppression, climate change or air pollution.

Some explanatory plates and panels have already disappearedlike those explained by the racist legacy of the naturalist John Muir in the Park of Muir Woods, in one of the most progressive areas of the country, near San Franciscowhere the measure has raised blisters. In response, a group of historians has launched the “Save Our Signs” campaign (save our signs) to document the content before their withdrawal. For these, The measure is a selective and bleached rewriting of national historythat marginalizes non -white and LGTBQ+ communities in favor of a uniform patriotic narrative.

An opera for melania

The most famous example is the Name change of the “Gulf of Mexico” by “Gulf of America”that earned the Associated Press news agency the revocation of the White House credentials by not accepting the change.

However, this was only one of many similar measures collected in an executive order entitled “Restoring names that honor American greatness”, in which strong and military places were renamed. In recent weeks, two new cases have jumped to the media sphere.

He John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Artsthe imposing modern building in the Rivera del Potomac River in Washington DC Where operas, ballets and large concerts are held, Trump wants to dedicate it to his wife. But he can’t do it alone, but depends on Congress. Therefore, several Republican legislators faithful to the president They have proposed to rename their great Chamber in honor of the First Lady, who stepped on the center for the first time in June, despite recently holding the institution of honorary president of the institution. Most likely, the proposal Do not prosper But the Democrats and the Kennedy family have labeled him political provocation When, in addition, Trump has drastically trimmed the budget of the arts.

Glory to the settlers

The other recent controversy is that of Washington DC football team. In 2020, after the anti -racist protests for the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a policeman, the National Football League team (NFL) chose to voluntarily change his name, until then the ‘Redskins’ (los Red skinsa form derogatory of referring to indigenous communities), and adopted the name of Commanders (Commanders). However, five years later, from nothing, Trump has decided to intervene, threatening the team that would not give him permission to do the works of his new stadium if he does not get rid of “that ridiculous nickname.”

And is that rename It can help Restore damage, glorify or erase history. President Joe Biden changed in 2021 the name of the “Columbus Day” for “Day of Indigenous Peoples”, attending to requests of more than a decade of native communities. The turn indicates a change of focus: colonization is no longer celebrated, but the resistance of the peoples. In 2025, that logic is reversed: the current president intends to undo that corrected memory.

Renamed to modify history is a common practice between authoritarian leaders around the world. After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Putin promoted a rusification campaignrecovering Soviet names and, since 2022, the Kremlin refers to the occupied areas of Ukraine as “The new Russia“, recovering an imperial term of the 18th century in disuse.

For its part, Beijing has sought euphemisms to refer to Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989, initially called “counterrevolutionary rebellion”, which became “The incident”From Tiananmen and that has been completely erased with text and history booksto the point that search engines are blocked when you introduce the word on the Internet.

With these precedents as a backdrop, there are many politicians and analysts who have jumped the alarm. Trump not only wants to leave a historic mark governing in the present. Wants to mold how the past is remembered. And for that, he has understood that the words – and the names – are one of the most powerful tools of power.

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