The US will soon start distributing passports featuring the picture of President Donald Trump, marking the first time in history when such passports will be issued without any precedence anywhere else in the world.
According to the State Department, this summer the nation will witness the release of a limited number of revamped passports as part of the festivities of its 250th year of independence celebrated through America250 events.
The prototypes of the passport indicate that it would carry the profile picture of President Donald Trump against a blue and white background, along with the Declaration of Independence below his signature written in gold.
Another page will showcase an illustration of the signing ceremony of the Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull painted in 1819.
The new passport will be the standard for those who renew in person at the Washington Passport Agency, while online applicants and other locations will continue to issue the current version.
There will be no additional charge for the commemorative version. Earlier reports that only 25,000 would be printed, but officials wouldn’t say how many would ultimately be produced, were denied.
The new passport’s cover has also been tweaked. The current front cover has “Passport” at the top, but the redesign will reverse that order, putting “United States of America” first.
The back cover will feature a version of the American flag from 1777 with “250” written among 13 stars representing the original colonies.
Coins will be minted in honor of Trump at the Treasury Department, his signature will be placed on the nation’s currency, and large banners showing his face were hung on government properties.
His name was also added to a new line of battle ships, the Kennedy Center and a government drug prescription site named TrumpRx.gov.
An act of vanity, not patriotism
These actions have provoked intense criticism.
Professor Edward Kolla from Georgetown University and passport historian labeled the initiative as “wacky,” pointing out that there is not one example of the portrait of any living US president ever being included into any modern passport.
Democratic congressman Mike Levin wrote on X that the signature of President Trump covered the Declaration of Independence, which, according to Levin, was written “literally to get away from this exact behavior.”
He also wrote, “The man cannot find a surface he will not slap his name or face on. This is not patriotism. It is vanity.”
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Democratic colleague Raja Krishnamoorthi was just as succinct in his criticism, saying that it is “absurd” and adding that these papers belong to all Americans, not only to one person.
The current design of the passport, which has been in use since 2021, has an illustration on the inside cover depicting Francis Scott Key watching the bombing of Fort McHenry.
There are pictures of Earth, the Moon, and the Voyager spacecraft on the outside cover with a quote by the 19th century activist Anna Julia Cooper.
According to the White House press secretary Olivia Wales, Trump’s “new patriotic passport design gives Americans even more ways to take part in the incredible celebrations surrounding America’s 250th birthday.”
The passports are supposed to be released in July, coinciding with the celebration of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
