If you’re an American planning to get a passport and you don’t want it to feature Donald Trump’s image, you might want to hurry. The Bulwark reported:
The State Department is close to finalizing a radical redesign of the U.S. passport to include a picture of President Donald Trump, The Bulwark has learned from two sources with knowledge of the redesign, including one who shared images currently under consideration. […]
According to the images of the passport redesign provided to The Bulwark, the inside cover of the new State Department-issued document will feature a scowling Trump — taken from his second inaugural portrait — superimposed over the Declaration of Independence, as well as the president’s signature in gold.
Though MS NOW has not yet independently verified the reporting, Fox News ran a similar report around the same time, which included an on-the-record quote from State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, who acknowledged, “As the United States celebrates America’s 250th anniversary in July, the State Department is preparing to release a limited number of specially designed U.S. passports to commemorate this historic occasion.”
Evidently, this commemoration includes glorifying the incumbent president — again.
With this development in mind, it seems like an excellent time to recap the scope and scale of Team Trump’s increasingly weird glorification campaign:
U.S. currency: Trump recently announced plans to add his signature to U.S. dollars — a first for a sitting American president — which is not to be confused with plans for a massive, 3-inch commemorative gold coin featuring Trump’s face.
Renaming buildings: The president’s allies have already added Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center and the Institute of Peace. By some accounts, the president expects the proposed White House ballroom to bear his name, too.
U.S. military: Plans to construct “Trump-class” battleships are underway, and the nation’s next-generation fighter jet will have an “F-47” designation in honor of him. (Trump is the nation’s 47th president.)
Training and standards: Training for incoming Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents was reduced from 50 days to 47 days in honor of Trump.
The airport in Florida: Just last month, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to rename Palm Beach International Airport after Trump. (The president wanted to change the name of Dulles International Airport, just outside of Washington, D.C., to honor himself, and he was even prepared to execute an extortion scheme with Democratic officials to get his way. He had to settle for a much smaller airport.)
Banners: Giant, fascistic banners featuring Trump’s face are currently covering the front of several government buildings, including the headquarters of the Labor, Agriculture and Justice departments.
Accoutrement: The administration also launched “Trump Gold Cards,” “Trump Accounts” and “TrumpRx,” as well as the National Park Service adding Trump’s face to its park passes.
Domestic ambitions: Trump wants a new football stadium in Washington to be named after him, as well as New York City’s Penn Station.
International ambitions: Trump recently indicated that he wants and expects a statue to honor him in Venezuela. The Republican also said in January that it was “not too late” to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico (which he has attempted to rename once already) to the “Gulf of Trump,” and he recently suggested the Strait of Hormuz should also be called the “Strait of Trump.”
A couple of years into his first term as president, Trump went on a tour of Mount Vernon, where he took the opportunity to offer some mild criticism of George Washington: The nation’s first president, Trump argued, was insufficiently focused on branding when naming his Virginia estate.
“If he was smart, he would’ve put his name on it,” Trump said. “You’ve got to put your name on stuff, or no one remembers you.” (And really, who even remembers Washington these days?)
Nearly seven years later, it’s unsettling how often we’re reminded that Trump was never kidding.
What the incumbent president doesn’t seem to understand is that many people loved George Washington, so he never felt the need to slap his own name on stuff. Others gladly did it for him.
Trump, on the other hand, fears being forgotten — or worse, remembered as corrupt failure — which has led to this increasingly ridiculous crusade.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
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