Amid record-high fuel costs and plummeting interest in travel both to and from the United States, the U.S. State Department figures now would be a good time to add President Donald Trump’s face to passports, according to reports.
The Bulwark published a scoop today based on intel from two unnamed sources “with knowledge of the redesign.” It was then seemingly substantiated by an official statement from State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, shared with Fox News a few hours later.
"As the United States celebrates America's 250th anniversary in July, the State Department is preparing to release a limited number of specially designed U.S. passports to commemorate this historic occasion," Pigott told Fox News Digital.
That limited number is reportedly 25,000 and only available at the Washington Passport Agency in D.C.—"while supply lasts," Politico reports. There will be no additional fee for obtaining a passport with Trump's portrait.
The administration's statement would seem to suggest that the passports bearing Trump's image will be a kind of collector's-edition type of thing, rather than a new feature of every passport issued in the U.S.
At the moment, the State Department is not saying—publicly at least—that the administration is doing away with the current, Trump-free passport design.
But given how flexible this White House is with disclosing what it's up to at any given time, we recommend taking a wait-and-see approach rather than taking the White House's word on its, well, face.
From The Bulwark:
“According to the images of the passport redesign provided to The Bulwark, the inside cover of the new State Department–issued document will feature a scowling Trump—taken from his second inaugural portrait—superimposed over the Declaration of Independence ..."
For some reason, the passport bust will appear above a golden print of Trump’s famous Sharpie signature.
Inside the back cover, a quote from Black feminist icon Anna Julia Cooper will be replaced with a version of John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence painting, which is also certainly a choice.
The passport makeover is the latest example of Trump adding his name and/or likeness to just about everything in Washington and beyond, including the Kennedy Center, U.S. paper currency, a gold coin, banners on federal buildings, and national park passes.
To apply for or renew a normal U.S. passport, see our step-by-step guide.