The President Who Can’t Stop Naming Things After Himself
The Narcissist-in-Chief is Worried We'll Forget Him. I hope we do.
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Given how much they hide and distort, White House claims that the current administration is the most transparent in history are ridiculous. Just look at how they’ve handled the Jeffrey Epstein affair.
However, there is one area where Donald Trump is so transparent you can see straight through him: his drive to convert the presidency into an autocracy. The latest evidence is the new “Trump Class” of battleships he wants to build. “The U.S. Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me,” he said in all seriousness, “because I’m a really aesthetic person.” INSANE.
The ships would be armed with both conventional and nuclear weapons and would sail the globe to project American power and one man’s out-of-control ego long after he’s gone. Each would cost at least $10 billion. More than a decade would pass before the first could be completed. They would be part of what the administration calls a “Golden Fleet.” Couple of quick asides: The US gave up carrying nuclear missiles on surface ships in the 90’s because in the words of one naval commander “I hate babysitting nukes and being a target.” As well, the US needs more aircraft carries and submarines, which is taxing our shipbuilding and financial capacity.
To be clear, American presidents have never named ships—or anything else—after themselves. The reasons are so obvious it almost feels silly to spell them out. But in this abnormal moment, with our government led by a malignant narcissist, reminders are apparently necessary. Past presidents refrained from putting their names on public institutions out of respect for democracy, reverence for institutions, and a sense of personal humility. Trump has none of these qualities.
The battleship proposal comes on the heels of Trump’s hand-picked trustees voting to add his name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Workers have already altered the signage on the center’s Carrara marble façade. It now reads: the Donald J. Trump John F. Kennedy Center. They installed the new lettering behind a massive tarp. Perhaps they felt some shame about what they were doing.
Meanwhile, a quarter mile away, the former United States Institute of Peace now greets visitors with a sign bearing Trump’s name as well: “Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace.” The institute is dedicated to promoting peace and resolving conflict. Trump—who promised to end Russia’s war against Ukraine on the first day of his presidency and failed spectacularly—hardly embodies that mission.
The renaming spree evokes a dog marking its territory, and it recalls authoritarian leaders past and present. Roman emperors routinely stamped their names and likenesses on buildings and coins. Hitler and Mussolini named places after themselves—Il Duce even founded a town called Mussolinia. Today, Middle Eastern strongmen plaster their faces across billboards and banners. Whether in Egypt, Syria, or Iran, rulers loom over public spaces as a constant reminder of who holds power. Many Americans will remember the images of Iraqis tearing down Saddam Hussein’s statue after his fall, and trampling road signs bearing his name and image.
With no sense of propriety, the Trump administration recently unfurled a massive, ayatollah-style banner featuring Trump’s face on the Department of Labor building for Labor Day. The words echoed his “America First” slogan. A similar banner was hung at the Department of Agriculture.
Trump’s imperial impulses have also reshaped the White House itself. Traditional décor has been replaced with gaudy flourishes in his signature color: gold. Trump calls the makeover—complete with a gold sign reading “Oval Office”—“24-karat décor.” I call it “Eau de Saddam,” The changes include gold trim in the Oval Office, gold faucets in the bathroom near the Lincoln Bedroom, and a presidential “walk of fame” along the colonnade, featuring gold-framed portraits of every president, including Trump himself—except Joe Biden. In a petty snub, Biden is represented only by a framed autopen.
The insult is adolescent but unmistakably Trump: crude, mean-spirited, and small. So too are the ego monuments scattered around Washington. Unlike other presidents, who trusted history and the people to judge them after they left office, Trump insists on honoring himself in real time.
This isn’t confidence. It’s fear. The ships, the renamings, the banners, the gold-plated décor—they are physical manifestations of what sits in Trump’s selfish and frightened heart. There is nothing there but “me, me, me,” and a gnawing terror that when he’s gone, no one will care.
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