Washington (United States) (AFP) – An image of Donald Trump will soon appear in some US passports, officials said Tuesday, shattering another norm as the president aggressively puts his personal stamp on government institutions.
There are few precedents anywhere in the world, let alone in a democracy, of displaying sitting leaders’ pictures in passports, and Trump would be the first sitting US president featured in Americans’ travel documents.
The State Department said it would offer the limited-edition passport to mark this year’s 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.
The department – which has historically viewed itself as outside US partisan politics – posted on social media a sample of the passport, which features a stern-looking Trump superimposed over the Declaration of July 4, 1776.
Trump’s signature – in gold – lies underneath.
A second limited-edition passport showed a historic painting of the US Founding Fathers.
“As the United States celebrates America’s 250th anniversary in July, the State Department is preparing to release a limited number of specially designed US passports to commemorate this historic occasion,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
Another department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Trump-themed passports would only be available at in-person appointments in Washington “for as long as there is availability.”
The passports would come at no additional cost, the official said.
It was not immediately clear if passport applicants could refuse the Trump picture, although the majority of Americans seeking passports do so through local post offices, which would not provide the special edition.
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Americans, you gotta level with us… It’s a kink thing, right?
It has to be. It’s the only thing that makes sense. You’ve all got a massive humiliation kink and this guy is your dom daddy. He’s just out here every day inventing new ways to get you all off.
Nah, man. We got a fucked up propaganda machine that promotes billionaire talking points to basically every American. We have a political system that’s basically “well, we need to have a king, but he should be elected”, there’s no actual way to get the motherfucker out if he controls even a large minority in one chamber of the legislature, and the person who ran against him saw all of the people drowning from higher costs of living and basically said “we’re on the right track, don’t listen to the guy who says he’ll help you, he’s lying and dangerous” without actually offering to fucking help any one.
Plus, we have enough politically disengaged white people in this country that “things were interesting when Trump was president” was a selling point to them.
… maybe it is a humiliation thing…
Citizens United was the beginning of the end of the US and it shows. Fuck this place.