Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska on May 16, 2024 (Philip Yabut/Shutterstock.com)
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) isn't happy about the waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars spent promoting President Donald Trump's image across the federal government.
The White House revealed this week that a limited U.S. Passports will be printed with a special Trump page, the administration claims, to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States.
A State Department official said Tuesday that the passport “will be the default passport out of the Washington Passport Agency when available” for those renewing in person at that location. It comes as Trump is putting his face on a massive coin, also to celebrate America's birthday.
When asked about it, Bacon called the idea of the Trump-branded passport "a little silly" and compared Trump to Russian communist dictators.
"We laughed at Russia when they had pictures of Lenin and Stalin everywhere. 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 said.
He attributes it to overzealous staff trying to suck up to Trump.
"I just think there's a little bit of overreach by some of the subordinates of the president who are trying to cater, uh, for his attention. Uh, it's not really American to do this," he added.
Trump's name will also appear on all U.S. currency, The Conversation reported this month. Since 1914, dollar bills have carried the signatures of the Treasury secretary and the U.S. treasurer. Earlier this year, Trump tried to rename Washington's Dulles Airport and New York's Penn Station so it would include his name, but it wasn't successful. Trump has also put his name on a prescription drug website that was supposed to help people save money. TrumpRx launched in February. A new "Golden Fleet" of military ships will be henceforth named a "Trump-class," Trump proclaimed. However, it isn't slated to begin in the early 2030s, so it's unclear whether that name will remain.
Trump has also put his name atop the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. Institute of Peace. His face also appears on all National Park passes.