Bacon on Trump-branded passports: ‘It’s not really America to do this’
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) does not seem fond of the State Department’s plan to include President Trump’s likeness in new passport designs to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Bacon said during an appearance on “CNN News Central” on Wednesday morning that he found the idea “a little silly,” alluding to widespread imagery of authoritarian leaders in foreign countries.
“We laughed at Russia when they had pictures of Lenin and Stalin everywhere,” he said. “Go to China, they had pictures of Mao everywhere. You go to North Korea, pictures of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un.”
“We’re America, and I think we do less of that,” Bacon added.
The State Department unveiled the “limited-edition” passport design on the social platform X on Tuesday afternoon after multiple outlets reported that the Trump administration planned to roll them out this summer.
“President Trump’s new patriotic passport design provides yet another great way Americans can join in the spectacular celebrations for America’s 250th birthday,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told The Hill.
One page features Trump’s inaugural portrait, overlayed on the text of the Declaration of Independence, and his signature. The other page includes a reproduction of John Trumbull’s famous oil painting of the Founding Fathers, which currently hangs in the Capitol Rotunda.
Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesperson, told The Bulwark and Fox News that the passports would maintain the “same security features that make the U.S. Passport the most secure documents in the world.”
The passport redesign marks the latest attempt to attach Trump’s name, image and likeness to government initiatives and entities, ranging from hanging banners with his portrait on federal buildings to incorporating it on federally issued documents and currency.
The Treasury Department announced plans last month to add Trump’s signature to newly minted paper money, which would be a first, as federal law historically bars living people from being depicted on U.S. currency.
The administration has argued that a measure signed by Trump at the end of his first term, the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, allows them to circumvent the law on occasions such as the semi-quincentennial. A commemorative $1 gold coin bearing Trump’s image in honor of the country’s founding is also expected to be released.
Bacon, who is not seeking reelection to his House seat, argued on Wednesday that the effort may be driven by a desire to appease the president.
“I just think there’s a little bit of overreach by some of the subordinates of the president who are trying to cater for his attention,” he said. “It’s really not America to do this.”
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