From battleships to buildings: Trump’s name is everywhere

WASHINGTON - As a New York businessman, Mr Donald Trump put his name on real estate, golf courses, vodka, steaks, bottled water and his own university.

As US President in his second term, he is merging his personal brand with national institutions and government programmes, an unusual assertion of power by a sitting US president.

Since returning to office in January 2025, the Republican president has affixed his name to prominent Washington buildings, a planned class of Navy warships, a visa programme for wealthy foreigners, a government-run prescription drug website, and federal savings accounts for children.

Some historians see it as a superficial legacy-building effort by the president that may not stand the test of time. A backlash has already begun against the

renaming of Washington’s premier performance venue

as the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Centre for the Performing Arts, with several acts cancelling in protest.

“I don’t think the naming or renaming guarantees that Trump’s name will be affixed to those things until time immemorial,” said Dr Austin Sarat, a professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, who questioned whether Mr Trump’s name would remain if Democrats regain power.

Ms Elizabeth Huston, a White House spokeswoman, said the administration was not focused on “smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again”.

“Drug pricing agreements, overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership,” she said in an e-mailed statement.

Trump-Kennedy Centre

The first year of Mr Trump’s second White House term has seen a shock-and-awe policy blitz that expanded presidential power, remade some parts of the federal bureaucracy and economy, and reshaped America’s relations with the world.

But one of the most striking features of the past 11 months has been the energy and attention Mr Trump has given to placing his name on buildings and government programmes.

His populist moves have alarmed Democrats and civil society watchdogs who worry they create the impression that Mr Trump, rather than the state, is the provider of essential services. Defenders say what Mr Trump is doing is simply an extension of his decades as a savvy marketer.

The biggest outcry came in December when his name was added to the Kennedy Centre, named for the late Democratic president in 1964 by an act of Congress to honour him after his assassination. The centre was renamed by its board of trustees, a majority of whom were appointed by Mr Trump.

Just up the Potomac River sits the US Institute of Peace, a government-funded think-tank established by Congress and focused on conflict avoidance.

On Dec 3 the US State Department

renamed it the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace,

based on Mr Trump’s assertion he has ended eight wars, a claim widely disputed given ongoing conflicts in several of those hotspots. Mr Trump’s name has been affixed to the building’s exterior.

Washington has many buildings and monuments named after presidents, but that has traditionally occurred well after they have left office and are normally national tributes to them, often established by Congress.

Professor Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University, said while previous presidents were not shy in reminding voters they were responsible for popular policies, including stimulus money or infrastructure programmes, “that’s very different to what you’re seeing today”.

“It’s a lot easier to get your name on a building or a ship than to pass legislation that’s enduring,” Prof Zelizer said. In terms of a lasting legacy, however, “it’s very thin”.

‘Trump-class’ warships

Mr Trump has announced a plan for

a new generation of US Navy warships,

which he called “Trump-class” battleships and said he will be personally involved in the designs.

If Mr Trump’s name appears on any of the ships, or “Trump-class” becomes an official Navy designation for the new battleships, a later name change would be a first, Prof Zelizer said.

But Mr Trump’s announcement does not guarantee the ships will be built. The Navy has cancelled shipbuilding programmes in the past, and the Trump-class ships are still in the design phase of a process that typically takes many years.

Mr Trump’s tax and spending cut Bill passed in July created a new type of tax-advantageous savings accounts for children, which are now called on the Internal Revenue Service’s website “Trump Accounts”.

As the accounts were created by an act of Congress, changing their name will likely need congressional approval.

In October, the US Treasury shared draft designs for US$1 coins featuring images of Mr Trump to commemorate the 250th anniversary of America’s declaration of independence from Great Britain. It has not been confirmed if the Trump coin will be issued in 2026.

The Trump administration also launched the

“Trump Gold Card”,

a new immigrant visa programme allowing wealthy foreign investors an expedited path to permission to live in the US, and TrumpRx.gov, a website offering reduced prices for prescription drugs that will likely launch in 2026.

Even plans for the

US Air Force’s new fighter jet, the F-47

– while not bearing Trump’s name – partly refer to the 47th president, the Air Force said.

Mr Trump called F-47 a “beautiful number”. REUTERS