Trump’s first signature move was on US currency. Now his face is looking at the American passport.
The State Department announced on April 28 that a limited number of 25,000 commemorative passports will be sold this summer to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary. Trump’s portrait will appear on the inside cover, with his signature in gold ink over the image of the Declaration of Independence. The front cover magnifies the words “United States of America” above the crest. The back cover shows the American flag “250” centered between 13 stars of the 1777 Betsy Ross design.
These brochures will be available only at the Washington Passport Agency, by special request, at no additional cost. Standard passports continue to be sent in the normal order. The concept approval came late Monday, April 27.
No American president has ever appeared inside an American passport. No foreign passport depicts the current head of state, according to Edward Kolla, an associate professor at Georgetown University who studies the history of passports. Kolla called the redesign “kwacky.”
Congress banned living persons from US currency in 1866. The law was passed to prevent the importation of money into politics and not to promote the elevation of any single living person to the instrument of government held by millions of citizens. There is no uniform passport law. The Secretary of State has broad statutory authority over the making of passports.
The passport is one of several signs of Trump on government goods, programs, and institutions in 2026. His signature was added to the dollar bill in March. A 24-karat gold commemorative coin in his likeness was approved last month. The $80 “America the Beautiful” pass now features his face next to George Washington’s. Trump’s savings account for the kids and the TrumpRx drug program both bear his name. The “Trump” war zone is being developed. Efforts to rename the John F. Kennedy Center and the United States Institute of Peace are in court. Pressure to rename Penn Station and Dulles International Airport on Trump was unsuccessful.
The America250 Commission that oversees the broader celebration was established by Congress in 2016 and signed into law by President Barack Obama. Its honorary national chairmen are George W. Bush and Barack Obama and their respective First Ladies. Its chairman, Rosie Rios, served as US Treasury under Obama.
Trump’s niece Mary Trump wrote on X: “I have never been so relieved to have already renewed my passport.” California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office mocked the move with an altered photo of a driver’s license bearing Newsom’s title, as well as another mocking that placed Trump alongside convicted Jeffrey Epstein. Democratic Congressman Mike Levin of California posted that Trump’s signature was placed on top of the Declaration of Independence, “written verbatim to escape this behavior.” Levin added: “This man can’t find a place he won’t put his name or his face on.”
Defenders of the redesign call it a patriotic reminder of a once-in-a-lifetime day.