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Americans across the nation will soon be able to apply for limited-edition US passports commemorating the country's 250th anniversary, featuring an image of President Donald Trump, the State Department said on Thursday.
The commemorative documents, which had hitherto been restricted to in-person applicants at the passport office in Washington, DC, will be rolled out across the department's 27 passport agencies nationwide starting next month. Trump becomes the first living president to be depicted inside an official US passport. In an official statement, the department said, "In response to overwhelming demand, the Department of State is making an additional 250,000 of the special commemorative passports available to the public." "Americans all across the country will now have the opportunity to apply for one of these additional special passports, known as the 'Patriot Passport'," it added. Passport agencies in Centennial, Colorado; Chicago; Dallas; Detroit; New Orleans; New York; and Stamford, Connecticut, are scheduled to provide the Trump passports during single-day special events beginning August 8, with additional regional offices expected to be added throughout August. Citizens intending to acquire the special edition must apply in person on the designated dates posted on the department's official passport web portal, whereas standard passport applications will be processed on separate days. The commemorative booklet displays Trump's photograph on an inner page above a gold imprimatur of his signature. The exterior cover also departs from the standard layout, displaying the phrase "United States of America" in bold gold lettering at the top and "Passport" along the bottom edge, inverting the standard arrangement. Additionally, a small gold laminate American flag featuring the number 250, encircled by stars, is placed on the lower portion of the back cover. Currently, the only former US leaders depicted in standard passports are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, shown in a spread of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. Existing passport designs also feature iconic imagery such as the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, alongside landscapes of the Great Plains, mountain ranges, and coastal islands, accompanied by quotes from Martin Luther King Jr and former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, John F Kennedy, and Dwight Eisenhower. The expansion of the passport design marks the latest instance of Trump's image and name being integrated into prominent national symbols and public spaces. A gold-finished commemorative coin bearing his likeness, marking the nation's semiquincentennial, has entered production by the US Mint, alongside proposals to place his signature on all newly minted US paper currency, which would similarly mark a precedent for a sitting head of state. Furthermore, administration aides previously sought to append his name to the US Institute of Peace building and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, though that signage was subsequently dismantled following a judicial order. The president has also attracted notice over proposals to construct a new White House ballroom and a monumental arch situated at an entrance point to Washington from Virginia. With this nationwide expansion, the limited-edition passport displaying Trump's image will become accessible beyond the capital as the State Department opens applications across regional facilities in the lead-up to the 250th anniversary of American independence. (ANI)
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