Aug. 29, 2026, 3:44 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump is busy leaving his mark on the Nation’s Capital and beyond.
Of course, before he became president, Trump had plenty of things with his name slapped on them. There was Trump Tower and Trump hotels, golf courses and, for a while, even Trump steaks.
During his first term as president, Trump had his name put on COVID-19 stimulus checks. He also revealed his penchant for remaking maps by drawing his own path for Hurricane Dorian.
Upon returning to the Oval Office, Trump has not wasted any time marking his territory. On his first day back in office, Trump ordered that Denali, the nation’s tallest mountain, be once again referred to as Mount McKinley. President Barack Obama had changed the name in 2015 at the request of state officials. Trump also put in motion the renaming of Army bases that Congress in 2020 ordered renamed because they honored Confederate military leaders.
Massive banners bearing Trump’s face began to be installed on the facades of federal buildings in Washington, D.C.
For some, Trump’s tendency to use his name and image – and impose his imprint – goes beyond the norm. “In the first century of our history it was really considered unseemly and even kind of unconstitutional,” David Barrett, a political science professor at Villanova University, told USA TODAY. “Even into the modern era, it was considered not illegal, but certainly unseemly and unpresidential.”
Even before taking office in January 2025, Trump launched a $TRUMP cryptocurrency meme coin; he would take in $635 million from the sale of it and other $TRUMP meme coins in 2025.
Also early on in his presidency, Trump dropped the idea of the Trump Gold Card, a $5 million shortcut to a visa and path to citizenship. As is often the case, the president said it was not his idea to put his name on it. “Somebody said, ‘Can we call it the Trump gold card?’ I said: ‘If it helps, use the name Trump. I’ll give it to you for free’,” Trump said during a Feb. 25, 2025, White House event.
Trump has continued to look at maps for power plays. He has said Canada should become the 51st state and the U.S. should take control of Greenland.
Trump has added the Pacific islands Micronesia and the Marshall Islands to his wish list of countries that should be brought under U.S. ownership, control or influence, and has suggested that the U.S. could one day claim control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Just as he renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in February 2025, Trump on Aug. 27 signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America – a move made amid his escalating trade war with Canada.
These actions can be used as a distraction, but will likely be “unsuccessful,” wrote Jeffrey Blehar in National Review, a conservative opinion magazine. “Trump will fight to rename the Great Lakes, or demolish the Kennedy Center – anything to keep the media from talking about the economy or the war in Iran,” Blehar wrote.
Here’s a look at some of Trump’s other actions.
Trump and the Kennedy Center
Speaking of the Kennedy Center, the addition of Trump’s name to the performing arts center in December 2025 is perhaps the most attention-grabbing Trump signage strategy recently. The move renamed it as “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” This came days after Trump hosted the Kennedy Center Honors, the first president to do so.
Months earlier, in February 2025, Trump had terminated the center’s board, named new board members and installed himself as its new chairman.
However, in May 2026, a federal judge ordered Trump’s name to be removed from the building. Since then, a legal struggle has ensued, with the center’s board arguing that Trump’s help raising funds for the center’s restoration earns the president signage on the building saying, “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” The board also voted to name the grounds beneath the venue “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”
The judge has asked for additional written arguments from both sides. Meanwhile, a tarp and scaffolding continue to block the view of Kennedy’s name, after Trump’s name was removed June 13.
Trump brings back Department of War
On Sept. 5, 2025, Trump ordered the renaming of the Department of Defense to the “Department of War,” a name the department abandoned in 1947, to match what White House officials call a new “warrior ethos” it is instilling in the armed forces.
“We won the First World War. We won the Second World War. We won everything before that and in between,” Trump said before signing the order. “And then we decided to go woke and we changed the name to the Department of Defense. So we’re going Department of War.”
The move empowered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use titles such as “Department of War,” “Secretary of War” and “Deputy Secretary of War” in official government correspondence and communications without formally changing the department’s name, which would require action from Congress.
Trump’s name added to U.S. Institute of Peace
In December 2025, The U.S. Institute of Peace, a 41-year-old agency that works with the nation’s executive branch to resolve violent conflict abroad, was renamed the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace. The U.S State Department renamed it “to reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history,” the department said in a social media post on X.
Florida adds Trump’s name to Palm Beach airport and street
In January 2026, state lawmakers approved renaming a road linking Palm Beach International Airport and Trump’s private club at Mar-a-Lago to “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.”
Two months later, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation renaming Palm Beach International Airport to “President Donald J. Trump International Airport.” The name change went into effect in July.
TrumpRX, a prescription for savings
In February 2026, Trump touted the launch of TrumpRx, a government website meant to help Americans buy medicines at lower prices. The site launched with more than 40 medications from drug makers including Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Pfizer.
“This is a very big deal,” Trump said during a Feb. 5 White House event. “People are going to save a lot of money and be healthy.”
Trump banners displayed at federal buildings in Washington, D.C.
Soon after Trump took office for the second time, massive banners with his image began appearing on federal buildings in the nation’s capital, including the Departments of Agriculture and Labor.
In February 2026, a banner with Trump’s face and the saying, “Make America Safe Again,” was hung outside the Justice Department headquarters.
Official documents adding Trump’s image
A commemorative passport with Trump’s picture will get a wider reach. Initially only available at the Washington Passport Agency, the State Department announced on July 30 that it would make 250,000 additional special passports available due to “overwhelming demand.”
Trump’s face also appeared on the National Park Service’s 2026 annual pass for U.S. residents. Traditionally, the America the Beautiful pass carries a photo taken on public lands that won an annual photo contest.
“Blotting out the majesty of America’s national parks with a closeup of his own face is Trump’s crassest, most ego-driven action yet,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. The group sued to stop the change.
“It’s disgusting of Trump to politicize America’s most sacred refuge by pasting his face over the national parks in the same way he slaps his corporate name on buildings, restaurants, and golf courses,” Suckling said.
Trump’s mark being made on currency
The Treasury Department announced in March 2026 that Trump’s signature would appear on all paper currency. That’s a departure from tradition – monetary bills usually carry the signatures of the U.S. treasurer and the secretary of the treasury. The first $100 bills carrying Trump’s signature were produced July 4, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X. It’s the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president’s signature appeared on American banknotes.
The U.S. Mint is issuing a Semiquincentennial $1 Coin with Trump’s likeness, which goes on sale Tuesday, Sept. 1.
A commission hand-picked by Trump in March approved a 24-karat gold commemorative coin with his likeness in addition to the $1 coin. But it has yet to be approved.There are also moves to have Trump’s face on currency. Republican-backed legislation directing the Treasury Department to produce a $250 bill with Trump’s portrait has been proposed, but hasn’t gotten out of the U.S. House.
‘I did not name’ Trump Accounts
Trump Accounts, a federal savings program pledging $1,000 savings accounts for every child born between 2025 and 2028, began operation on July 4. It launched with 1.4 million newborn babies getting $1,000 in seed money from the government, with families of 6 million American children claiming accounts overall.
While announcing the program in February 2026, during his State of the Union address, Trump said: “Nobody believes me, but I did not name it.”
Trump floats new battleships, plus some old designs
In December 2025, Trump announced the construction of two new “Trump-class” battleships that would be the first in a “Golden Fleet” of Navy ships. In addition to hypersonic weapons, lasers, cruise missiles and nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence would play a “big factor” in the ships’ capabilities, he said.
The U.S. Navy will lead construction of the ships, along with Trump, who called himself “a very aesthetic person.”
More recently, Trump criticized the Navy’s aircraft carriers, saying they should use steam-powered catapults – technology from the 1950s – to launch jets, instead of the electromagnetic systems the fleet is currently using. He also voiced concerns that the carriers should move the ship’s multistory tower forward toward the center of the ship to look more like World War II ships. The Navy is evaluating a redesign of new ships based on Trump’s concerns, The Washington Post reported.
Contributing: Ken Alltucker, Zac Anderson, Fernando Cervantes, Francesca Chambers, Kinsey Crowley, Joey Garrison, Trevor Hughes, Bart Jansen, Phaedra Trethan, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Mary Walrath-Holdridge and N’dea Yancey-Bragg.
Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com.
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