A few days ago, Palm Beach International Airport was renamed Donald J. Trump International Airport. Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a law months ago authorizing the name change of the facilities the president uses for his frequent trips, especially on weekends to his Mar-a-Lago residence. And now it has been finalized.
DeSantis, who challenged Trump in the primaries for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, insisted that it was more than appropriate, given that Trump is the first native president of Florida (although he is actually from New York) and stated that the president did not personally request the change. "It would set a bad precedent if he had, but he didn't. It was an initiative of the legislature," the governor insisted. The problem is that no one believes it.
Earlier this year, several media outlets reported that during negotiations on federal funds for the Gateway rail project, the tunnel between New York and New Jersey, Trump had suggested that it would be easier to unlock resources if two major infrastructures were renamed after him: the Washington Dulles International Airport, one of the three in the U.S. capital, and New York's Penn Station. Trump later denied some details and claimed that the idea had arisen differently, but the White House confirmed that the issue had been raised.
Some loyal and enthusiastic congressmen have even proposed changing the name of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Washington Metro) to Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access (WMAGA), after the movement led by the president, to which they also want to dedicate the subway's red line.
His Face and Name Everywhere
If something has characterized this second term of Trump, it is the obsession with his name, his legacy, with having his face and name everywhere. Public buildings, major infrastructures, even bills and coins. The examples are countless. If in his first four years Trump made it clear that his ego needed constant comparison with the great presidents of history, from Washington to Lincoln, in this term, he is seeking to cement his personal memory with physical things. Literally. From celebrating his birthday in 2025 with a military parade or in 2026 with a fight in the White House gardens to considering making that day, June 14, a new national holiday, taking advantage of also commemorating the stars and stripes flag on the same date.
The United States loves to remember its presidents, but it is an extremely rare phenomenon to have such a display by a sitting one. Trump, who wants a grand Arc de Triomphe in the French style in the city, put his name on the United States Institute of Peace and then created a Peace Board with his surname, an entity that seeks to replace the UN in his own way and to which interested countries have to make huge cash contributions, which will be controlled by him, as the ultimate and almost sole decision-maker.
He also replaced the entire board of the Kennedy Center, the capital's cultural space par excellence, putting himself at the helm to have it renamed Trump Kennedy Center. Later, seeing the attendance collapse and massive artist cancellations, he wanted to shut it down for two years for a total renovation. Both actions have been halted by a court.
If the name matters, the image matters even more. For two consecutive years, he has given a speech on the eve of the July 4th national holiday next to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, where the giant faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln are carved. In 2020, after The New York Times reported that the White House had asked then South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem how another president could be added to the monument, Trump denied it but added: "I never suggested it... although, considering all we've achieved, it might sound like a good idea to me." Noem herself, dismissed a few months ago as National Security Advisor, has claimed that Trump once confessed to her that it was his "dream" to appear on Mount Rushmore. That's why she gave him a model of the monument with Trump's face added, which he displayed at Mar-a-Lago.
Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, a MAGA enthusiast, introduced a bill to start the process of adding Trump's face to the monument. Other dedicated politicians, like Andy Ogles, also urged the Department of the Interior to explore that possibility. And this year, before the mentioned speech there, Trump himself posted on his Truth Social account images and videos generated with AI showing his sculpted face alongside the great presidents of history.
Bills for the 250th Anniversary of the US
There is much more. In February, one morning a huge banner with Trump's face appeared on the facade of the Department of Justice building on Pennsylvania Avenue, with the slogan "Make America Safe Again". The image occupied a very visible part of the building, and the controversy was enormous, following the dismissals of prosecutors and the persecution of political enemies because although Trump chooses the attorney general -dismissed a few weeks ago for not being decisive enough in the Epstein case and the mentioned persecution-, the Department of Justice should have independence from the White House. The facades of the Employment and Interior Ministries also woke up covered with banners featuring the president's face and slogans.
Shortly after, the Treasury Department announced that Trump's signature would be printed on bills to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary, marking the first time the country will see a sitting president's signature on its dollar bills. And last week, the department's head, Scott Bessent, announced that the Mint will soon start producing a new golden-colored one-dollar coin with the billionaire's face. The obverse of the coin will feature Trump's face alongside the phrase "In God We Trust" with the expressions "Liberty" and "1776-2026". The reverse will show the eagle holding arrows in one claw and olive branches in the other.
The obsession has also extended to the governance process. Thus, the program that allows certain foreigners to obtain expedited residency in the United States through a high economic contribution to the federal government is called the Trump Gold Card. And the platform to facilitate Americans' access to discounted medications through agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers is called TrumpRx.
The department responsible for national parks has also changed the traditional design of the America the Beautiful annual pass to include a portrait of Donald Trump alongside George Washington, replacing the traditional image of natural landscapes. The State Department has launched a commemorative edition of the U.S. passport for the country's 250th anniversary, incorporating an image of Trump and his golden signature on interior pages. And the Defense Department has decided that the new class of battleships will be the Trump-class, breaking with the tradition of naming them after states.