You’re So Vain
Trump’s obsession with his own name exposes a man chasing validation
Our nation’s capital city is dotted with monuments to honor the most revered historical figures — think Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson. Suddenly, the landscape is littered with a self-aggrandizing celebration of the current occupant of the White House, brought to you by the man himself.
Federal buildings are now festooned with three-story-high banners of Donald Trump’s shadowy face. These taxpayer-funded pieces of propaganda are just one example of Trump’s self-glorification. They would be right at home in the North Korean capital, and are gaudy enough to make Saddam Hussein blush.
For all his bluster, Trump is a deeply insecure man. His penchant for self-promotion — slapping his name on everything from whiskey glasses to apartment buildings — has long been his over-compensating brand strategy. When an avowed narcissist wants to sell something, it makes sense that he prominently emblazons items with his visage or moniker in a large, all-caps font.
Trump has tried, and in many cases succeeded, in naming things that rightfully belong to the American people or renaming things meant to honor others. In some cases, he has done so illegally. The amount of energy he exerts to stroke his own ego rather than help the American people should be astonishing, but it no longer engenders the outrage it deserves because it has become commonplace.
In December, the White House announced that the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts would be renamed the Donald J. Trump Kennedy Center. The very next day, the new name was already affixed to the building’s marble facade. Trump’s handpicked Board of Trustees voted for the rebrand, even though changing the name is supposed to take an act of Congress. But Trump has repeatedly shown disdain for Congress and any power it might wield to stymie him.
Also in December, Trump added his name to the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit established and funded by Congress. A State Department statement said the update was a tribute to the “greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history.”
Recently, the Pentagon announced it was developing a new fighter jet called the F-47, in honor of the 47th president, as well as a new class of battleship named for Trump and bedecked with an image of the president with his fist raised.
According to Forbes, the battleships would be the biggest warships constructed in the United States since WWII. And that’s a problem. “Big and overarmed behemoths have been obsolete in warfare for many decades,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
The president should be focused on righting the ship, rather than naming one.
Trump likes to put his name on almost anything, especially on things that help people financially, an obvious reminder of who is responsible for providing the perk. During the 2020 presidential election, Trump pushed to get his name on the stimulus checks sent to millions of Americans.
This month, Trump added his name to a new online prescription drug platform, TrumpRx,a search tool to (ostensibly) find lower-priced medications.
The recently rolled out Trump Accounts are a children’s savings and investment program that parents can apply for using IRS Form 4547. In case you were wondering, that’s not an arbitrary number. If approved, the federal government deposits $1,000 in the account, which can be accessed when the child turns 18.
The government is currently accepting applications for the Trump Gold Card, essentially a bribe to fast-track immigration processing. Applicants pay a $15,000 fee to start the process and then $1 million if approved. The card is not theoretical. It is an actual plastic gold-colored card, adorned with Trump’s likeness, a bald eagle, and the Statue of Liberty.
In November, the Department of the Interior unveiled the 2026 America the Beautiful National Park Pass. It includes side-by-side images of Trump and George Washington, despite a law that requires the pass to feature the winner of an annual photo competition held by the National Park Foundation. Conservation groups are suing the administration, calling the move “the most ego-driven action yet.” Remarkably, not even close.
The Treasury Department is making plans for a Trump $1 coin, which would have his face stamped on it, even though federal law prohibits living persons from appearing on currency and coins. The 1866 Act of Congress was put in place to avoid the appearance of a monarchy. “King” Trump isn’t bothered by acts of Congress.
Trump’s need to rename all he sees in his honor is seeping even beyond U.S. borders. The newly named Trump Route of International Peace and Prosperity is a U.S.-brokered, 27-mile stretch of highway through Armenia into Azerbaijan. This act of transactional diplomacy by Trump is a conspicuous effort to remind leaders in the region of his reach.
Trump doesn’t just want this name on credit cards and electronic bank accounts. His ego requires even grander gestures.
In November, he put pressure on the owners of the Washington Commanders football franchise to name the team’s new stadium for him. Just days after floating the idea, Trump attended a Commanders game where he was roundly booed. No decision has been made about the stadium’s name, which won’t be completed until 2030.
His most audacious ultimatum yet came last week. Trump froze federal funding for a desperately needed tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New York and New Jersey. The president told New York Senator Chuck Schumer that he would un-freeze the money if Schumer would back Trump’s bid to rename New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles International Airport after himself, while he’s still in office!
When asked about the demand for the name changes, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Why not?”
In an effort to stop — or at least slow — Trump’s renaming steamroll, Senator Bernie Sanders and two Democratic senators introduced the “Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego (SERVE) Act,” which would prohibit naming federal buildings after sitting presidents.
“It’s no secret that President Trump is undermining democracy and moving this country toward authoritarianism. Part of that strategy is to create the myth of the ‘Great Leader’ by naming public buildings after himself, something that dictators have done throughout history,” Sanders said in a statement.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford vetoed a bill that would have renamed a federal building in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, after him. Ford vetoed the bill because he believed that federal buildings should not be named for sitting presidents, establishing a precedent against the practice rather than accepting a personal honor — a precedent the current president is hellbent on upending.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
He is nothing but a weak, insecure shell of a man. No one else would feel this need to promote themselves, demean everyone else and bully everyone he can to feel he has power. A very weak individual with no real redeeming qualities. So sad.
We don’t owe Trump validation, consideration, or our attention! Trump is a nonentity in a collective society! That we tolerate him on any level is a testament of our own ignorance!