Trump vanity projects reveal desire for 'dynastic succession'

While certain President Donald Trump policies have loomed large in his second term, from tariffs to the war against Iran, taking near-equal billing at times are his elaborate construction and vanity projects. From the triumphal arc he wants looming over the Capitol Mall, to his desire for a 90,000 square foot White House ballroom, to putting his face on currency and passports, Trump wants his name and visage plastered everywhere possible. And he’s not coy about his goals with such efforts. The proposed 250-foot-tall arc in D.C., for example, would not be a memorial to national glory or soldiers lost in battle as with the French arcs that inspired it, but a monument to, as he said himself, “Me.”

According to Financial Times analyst Edward Luce, these are more than mere “pharaonic dreams,” but suggest that Trump is motivated by “dynastic succession.”

What’s more, many in the GOP are willing to cosign on such endeavors. As Luce writes, “Whether it’s lawmakers sponsoring bills to add his likeness to Mount Rushmore or advisers saying he’s the greatest US president in history, staff are only responding to what he wants. Trump recently declared: ‘As everyone knows, I’m an extraordinarily brilliant person.’”

“But there are grounds to suspect that he is thinking of something bigger than self-adulation,” asserts Luce. “The best way to perpetuate your name is to arrange for a successor with the same name. Among Trump’s children, Barron is too young (20), as is Tiffany (32), which leaves Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr. Of these, Ivanka has noticeably distanced herself from her father since 2021. Which leaves Eric and Don Jr. Neither lacks for ambition. Each is also getting very rich very fast. Forbes estimates that Eric’s net worth has risen 10-fold to $400mn since November 2024. Don Jr’s has risen sixfold to about $300mn.”

Of the two, “Don Jr. is the one who most craves to please his father. Polymarket puts his odds of winning the 2028 Republican nomination at four per cent, well behind the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, at 21 per cent and JD Vance, the vice-president, at 39 per cent. Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor, who recently denounced Trump as a ‘slave’ of Israel, is ranked third at six per cent (Ivanka and Eric have one per cent apiece).”

But Luce suggests that Don Jr. may end up getting his father’s electoral support for a simple reason: “Trump’s oldest son can be controlled.”

“Though Vance and Rubio would each be far more qualified,” notes Luce, “neither could be banked on to stay loyal after Trump handed over the keys. Ignoring the 22nd Amendment, which says that no president shall serve more than two terms, would amount to a coup d’état. Even this U.S. Supreme Court would be unlikely to greenlight a third Trump term. Nor is demoting himself to being Vance or Rubio’s running mate a way to circumvent the U.S. Constitution, which explicitly debars that ruse. Which leaves one of his sons.”

With this in mind, “Trump’s recent flurry of self-naming looks like more than just a bid for legacy.”

Some of Trump’s “name grabs,” notes Luce, can be easily overturned as soon as a Democrat enters office, such as the renamed Donald J Trump and John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. Institute for Peace turned Trump Institute for Peace, the $1 million “Trump gold car” visas, his signature on currency and hanging his face from banners on federal buildings like the Department of Justice. But “many of his vanity projects will take years to bear fruit. The triumphal arch, for example, is projected for completion in 2028. The ballroom will take a year or two.” These longer-term efforts suggest longer-term intentions.

“It is often observed that Trump loves the pomp of monarchy and craves the power of the autocrat,” Luce concludes. “Last week he hosted Charles III. Next week he will be the guest of China’s ‘president for life,’ Xi Jinping. What seems overlooked is his admiration for royal succession. Given Trump’s monumental ambitions, it would be strange if dynasty were not on his mind.”