I guess we should’ve seen this coming…
United States passport gets new Trump-centric design
The State Department is rolling out a new limited edition United States passport, intended to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence.
The passport features President Trump’s image on the inside cover, surrounded by text of the Declaration of Independence, an American flag, and Trump’s (gold) signature. Then another page features the Founding Fathers at the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The passport’s exterior is also altered, with “United States of America” written in larger text and placed at the very top of the passport, and the back cover having an American flag, with “250” centered between the 13 stars featured on the 1777 version of the flag.
Good thing passports have biometric data nowadays, or else you might assume this passport is fake.
This special passport design is only available for those who show up in person at the Washington Passport Agency until the limited edition runs out. If you do renew in person at the Washington Passport Agency, you won’t have a choice of which passport you get, as this will be the standard, even if you don’t want it.
So in those situations, your only option to avoid this passport is to renew online, or go to a passport agency outside of DC.
This is a pretty unprecedented passport concept
This is the first time that we’ve ever seen a United States president featured on a passport. When criticized online, the official White House X account responded by pointing out that… President Obama had a commemorative metro card for his inauguration in January 2009.
Even in countries with dictators or monarchies, we don’t typically see this. Though the White House X account did also post about “two kings,” in reference to Trump’s meeting with King Charles.
I’m not even going to be sassy about this, because we’re getting to the point where fact is stranger than fiction.
I’ll simply say this, and I think it’s something most reasonable people should be able to agree on — the concept of being “patriotic” in the United States shouldn’t be tied to any one character, regardless of political affiliation, especially not one person temporarily elected.
If someone truly believes that the thing most worth highlight about the United States’ 250th anniversary is the current president, then it’s a rather unusual flavor of patriotism.
Bottom line
President Trump is launching a limited edition passport to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, and in particular, to celebrate himself. The passport features his picture and signature, which is something we’ve never seen before in the United States.
This will be the only option at the Washington Passport Agency until supplies run out. If you do apply there, you won’t have an option as to which passport you get. Meanwhile everywhere else, the standard passport will continue to be issued.
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