What happened
The Trump administration said it will restore and reinstall two Civil War monuments: a statue of Confederate Gen. Albert Pike in Washington, D.C., that protesters toppled and burned in 2020, and a Confederate memorial removed from Arlington National Cemetery in 2023 on the advice of a bipartisan commission established by Congress.
Who said what
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday he was "proud to announce" that the 32-foot bronze monument created in 1914 by Confederate veteran Moses Ezekiel and commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy would be "rightfully returned" to Arlington. "It never should have been taken down by woke lemmings," he added. "Unlike the left, we don't believe in erasing American history — we honor it."
Retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, the vice chair of the congressional Naming Commission, told the Post that removing the monument was "not some woke thing" and restoring it was "just wrong." The monument is "the cruelest I've ever seen because it's a pro-slavery, pro-segregation, anti-United States monument," he said. "It's meant to say that the white South was right and the United States of America was wrong."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Returning the Confederate memorial to Arlington, from a museum in Virginia, will take two years and cost roughly $10 million, a U.S. Army official told The Associated Press.
-
‘Hypocrisy’ and ‘blackmail’: Ryanair’s feud with SpainUnder the Radar Bitter row over rising fees sees the Irish budget airline slash a million seats on regional routes this winter
-
September 21 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include muzzled speech, blaming Joe Biden, and more
-
Is free speech under threat in Britain?The Explainer The Trump administration thinks that free speech is in retreat in Britain. What do we mean by freedom of speech, and is it in danger?
-
Judge says DOJ misled to deport Guatemalan kidsSpeed read The Trump administration was barred from deporting hundreds of Guatemalan children
-
Trump asks Supreme Court to OK Cook ousterSpeed Read In his attempt to seize control of the US central bank, the president seeks permission to oust Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
