Washington– Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump is not going to leave it to future generations.
At the end of the first year of his second term, his administration and its allies named the president US Institute of Peacethe Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts And a A new class of battleships.
This is on top “Trump accounts” For deferred tax investments, TrumpRx government website Soon direct sales of prescription drugs will be available, Trump Golden Card visa. Which costs at least $1 million and Trump’s path to international peace and prosperityIt is a transit corridor included in an agreement brokered by its administration between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he plans to attend a celebration in Florida where local officials will designate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) route from the airport to his home at Mar-a-Lago as President Donald J. Trump’s Boulevard.
It is unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace such numbers and magnitude, especially those from members of his administration. While former presidents in office are typically honored by local officials by naming schools and roads after them, it is much rarer for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named after someone still in power.
“Never before in history have we named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, director of the David Gergen Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “This might be extended to say a president is still alive. This type of commemoration is supposed to just be memorials to the late hero.”
White House spokeswoman Liz Houston said TrumpRx, linked to the president’s deals to lower prices for certain prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades to national monuments, permanent peace agreements, and children’s wealth creation accounts, are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”
“The administration’s focus is not on smart branding, but on achieving President Trump’s goal of Make America Great Again,” Houston said.
The White House noted that the nation’s capital was named after President George Washington, and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while both were serving as president.
For Trump, this is a continuation of the way he first carved his place in the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who put his name in large gold letters on buildings, luxury hotels, a casino and… Miscellaneous products such as neckties, wine and steaks.
While running for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures Watchesperfumes, Gospels And sports shoes – incl Gold high tops retail for $799. After he took office again last year, Trump Enterprises launched Trump Mobile, with plans to unveil a mobile phone Gold colored smartphone And cryptocurrency A memecoin called $TRUMP.
This should not be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump currency US Treasury Secretary Brandon Beach said the US Mint is planning to do so.
Trump reportedly informed the NFL team’s owners in Washington He would like his name on the new Leaders Stadium. The team’s ownership group, which holds the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November described the proposed name as “beautiful” and said Trump had made rebuilding the stadium possible.
The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so enraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban naming or renaming any federal building or land after a sitting president — a ban that applies retroactively to the Kennedy Center and the Institute of Peace.
“I think he’s a narcissist who likes to see his name out there,” Sanders said in an interview. “If he owns a hotel, that’s his business.” “But he doesn’t own the federal buildings.”
Sanders likened Trump’s tendency to put his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.
“If the American people want to name buildings after a deceased president, that’s fine. That’s what we’re doing,” Sanders said. “But using federal buildings to advance your position sounds very much like North Korea’s ‘Great Leader’ mentality, and that’s not something I think the American people want.”
Although some names were suggested by others, the President made it clear that he was pleased with these honors.
Three months after announcing Trump’s Pathway for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was suggested by Armenian officials, the president spoke passionately about it during a White House dinner.
“It’s a beautiful thing. They named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually important,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.
The practice can send a signal to people “that the easiest way to get to the president and get his endorsement is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him,” said Engel, the presidential historian.
Some suggestions to honor Trump Included in Congress is legislation from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day,” putting the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation calling for the Washington area’s rapid transit system, known as Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.
McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to renovate the airport, which is currently a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.
The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a hero in the fight against the fentanyl scourge, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother died of an overdose. But he also pointed to Trump’s efforts to forge peace deals around the world and called him “one of the most important presidents ever.”
“I think this is someone who deserves to be honored, whether he is still president or not,” he added.
More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.
Republican state Rep. Meg Weinberger said she is working on trying to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dallas effort.
The road the president will see on Friday is not the first asphalt in Florida to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.
In the southern Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there after President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
Trump, speaking at a business conference in Miami the following month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the city’s mayor because of it.
“Anyone who names a street after me, I like it,” he said.
“A lot of people come back from Hialeah and say, ‘They just named the road after you,'” he added a few moments later. I say: “It’s okay.” It’s the beginning, isn’t it? “It’s the beginning.”