Washington, Jun 11 (IANS): US President Donald Trump says he will "not even consider" renaming military bases named for Confederate generals.

He tweeted that the bases were part of "a Great American heritage", the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Trump's remarks follow reports that top military officials were open to changes amid nationwide soul-searching after the death of George Floyd.

For many, symbols of the Confederacy - the slaveholding southern states that seceded, prompting the 1861-65 American Civil War - evoke a racist past.

Trump tweeted on Wednesday that bases named for Confederate generals "have become part of a Great American heritage, a history of Winning, Victory and Freedom".

He added: "The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations.

"Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!"

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told a news briefing afterwards that the possibility of renaming those bases was "an absolute non-starter" for Trump.

She said he would not sign any legislation that Congress might ever pass requiring such name changes.

The death last month of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, after a policeman knelt on his neck in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has reopened America's long-festering racial wounds.

On Wednesday, Nascar - a league in which both drivers and fans are overwhelmingly white - announced that it would ban the flying of Confederate flags at its races and other events.

On Wednesday, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for Confederate monuments in the US Capitol building in Washington DC to be removed.

"Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals," said the California Democrat in a statement.

"Their statues pay homage to hate, not heritage. They should be removed."

Each US state gets to pick two statues to send to the Capitol complex, where the Senate and House are situated.

Many of the Confederate figures have been moved to less central locations in the building in recent years, though some lawmakers have argued these statues should be removed altogether.