State department’s move is latest effort to impose president’s image and signature on national symbols
The US will begin issuing passports featuring Donald Trump’s face, as the president continues to put his image and name on America’s institutions of state and national symbols.
The new passport will be a limited edition featuring Trump’s portrait overlaid on the Declaration of Independence on the inside cover, with his signature in gold at the bottom.
The state department, which issues US passports, said on Tuesday that it would release the passports as part of the government’s commemoration of the country’s 250th anniversary.
“As the United States celebrates America’s 250th anniversary in July, the state department is preparing to release a limited number of specially designed US passports to commemorate this historic occasion,” said state department spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
“These passports will feature customised artwork and enhanced imagery while maintaining the same security features that make the US passport the most secure documents in the world.”
American passports last 10 years, meaning those bearing Trump’s image would expire years after the president’s second term ends in 2029.
The decision to put Trump’s image on the passports is part of his campaign to stamp his name on other US institutions and symbols of the state.
In Washington, the president demolished the East Wing of the White House to make way for a vast new ballroom and plans to build a 250-foot arch near the monuments built to honour early US presidents.
Large banners bearing Trump’s image have been hung on federal agency buildings in Washington, including one of his face on the justice department.
Last month, the US Treasury said Trump’s signature would begin appearing on paper currency — a first for a sitting president — as part of the 250th anniversary commemoration.
The president has also renamed the Kennedy Center the Trump Kennedy Center, while the Institute of Peace has become the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace.
He has also launched various programmes that bear his name, including TrumpRx, Trump Accounts and the Trump Gold Card. The annual pass used to access dozens of the country’s national parks and monuments features his face alongside a portrait of George Washington.
The state department will begin issuing the new passports in July. They will also feature an image of an American flag with 13 stars symbolising the country’s original colonies around a “250” on the back.
The administration is also planning to hold a race-car grand prix in Washington and a mixed martial arts cage fight at the White House.
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