A large banner featuring President Donald Trump hangs on the Department of Labor building in Washington, D.C., August 26, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
President Donald Trump has been slapping his name and face on everything he can get away with, but his ambitions are far from finished, according to a new wish list of unfulfilled ideas compiled by The Atlantic.
In a new piece published Tuesday morning, The Atlantic extensively catalogued all the ways in which Trump has shattered presidential norms by pushing for his own image to be plastered all over Washington D.C., and the U.S. at large. This drive, the report explained, seems largely rooted in his days as a publicity-obsessed real estate huckster, who "has been putting his name on buildings since before most Americans were born."
The Atlantic categorized examples three ways: those already completed, including the many banners with his face affixed to federal buildings in D.C., and the addition of his name to the Institute of Peace; those "in the works," most notably including his ongoing attempt to add his name to The Kennedy Center in some way; and finally, a "wish list" category, featuring ideas that have been suggested but not come close to fruition, for now.
"Trump — and those in his orbit looking to flatter him — will almost certainly propose more places for his name and face to appear," The Atlantic explained. "The president could grow dissatisfied with having his name on just one airport, especially one that serves fewer than 10 million people a year. Or the new football stadium coming to Washington might grab his attention. And, of course, there is his obsession with being on Mount Rushmore. Many ideas that seemed improbable when they were first introduced have since been carried out."
The most outlandish of the ideas on this wish-list is Trump's "obsession" with adding his face to Mount Rushmore, something Trump reportedly called a "dream" of his when then-congresswoman Kristi Noem first visited him in the Oval Office in 2018. During a recent trip to the landmark, cookies featuring Trump as the fifth face to the right of Abraham Lincoln were also served on Air Force One.
"Last fall, ESPN reported, Trump was telling people privately that he wants the planned new [Washington] Commanders stadium in D.C. to be named after him," the report detailed. "White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wouldn’t confirm the rumor, but she did tell the outlet, 'That would be a beautiful name.'”
Reports also suggested that Trump threatened to withhold public funds for the stadium if the team did not revert its name back to the "Washington Redskins," a name that was chastised as insensitive to Native Americans for decades.
"The airports named after John F. Kennedy (in New York), Ronald Reagan (near D.C.), and George H. W. Bush (in Houston) may be serving as inspiration," the report continued. "(Nevermind, of course, that each of those airports was renamed after each president had died or left office.) As Dulles Airport, in Northern Virginia, prepares for a major renovation, Trump has told people that he wants the international hub renamed after him, ABC News reported; there’s a bill ready to be resuscitated that would do just that."
