Donald Trump’s Face Will Be Printed on a Limited-Edition American Passport This Summer
First Trump’s signature went on US currency. Now his face is going on the American passport.
The State Department announced on April 28 that a limited run of 25,000 commemorative passports will go on sale this summer for the country’s 250th anniversary. Trump’s portrait will appear on the inside cover, with his signature in gold ink over imagery of the Declaration of Independence. The front cover enlarges the words “United States of America” above the crest. The back cover shows an American flag with “250” centered between the 13 stars of the 1777 Betsy Ross design.
The booklets will be available only at the Washington Passport Agency, by special request, at no extra cost. Standard passports continue to ship through the regular system. Concept approval came through late on Monday, April 27.
No sitting US president has ever appeared inside an American passport. No foreign passport depicts a current head of state at all, according to Edward Kolla, an associate professor at Georgetown University who studies passport history. Kolla called the redesign “wacky.”
Congress banned living people from US currency in 1866. The law was passed to prevent the politicization of money and to discourage the elevation of any single living figure on a federal instrument carried by millions of citizens. There is no equivalent law for passports. The Secretary of State has broad statutory authority over passport design.
The passport is one of several Trump markings on federal property, programs, and institutions in 2026. His signature was added to the dollar in March. A 24-karat gold commemorative coin with his likeness was approved last month. The “America the Beautiful” $80 national parks pass now features his face alongside George Washington’s. Trump savings accounts for children and the TrumpRx prescription drug program both bear his name. A “Trump” class of warship is in development. Efforts to rename the John F. Kennedy Center and the United States Institute of Peace are in litigation. Pressure to rename Penn Station and Dulles International Airport for Trump did not succeed.
The America250 commission overseeing the broader celebration was established by Congress in 2016 and signed into law by President Barack Obama. Its honorary national co-chairs are George W. Bush and Barack Obama and their First Ladies. Its chair, Rosie Rios, served as US Treasurer under Obama.
Trump’s niece Mary Trump posted on X: “I’ve never been so relieved to have already renewed my passport.” California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office mocked the move with an altered image of a Newsom-themed driver’s license, and another mock-up that placed Trump alongside the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Democratic California Congressman Mike Levin posted that Trump’s signature was being placed over the Declaration of Independence, “literally written to get away from this exact behavior.” Levin added: “The man cannot find a surface he will not slap his name or face on.”
Defenders of the redesign call it a patriotic commemoration of a once-in-a-lifetime anniversary.
