President Donald Trump unveiled a limited-edition US passport on Friday, June 26, meant to mark America’s 250th anniversary. In a social media post, the president wrote: “The U.S.A.’s New Passport, which says, ‘Welcome, but be good!’”.
He shared a sample passport page showing his portrait looming over the Resolute Desk, the text of the original Declaration of Independence in the background and Trump’s signature at the bottom. The opposite page features John Trumbull’s painting “Declaration of Independence.” CNN reported the portrait came from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and differs from the image the State Department released earlier this year.
Unsurprisingly, Americans reacted — and not all kindly. One user, PusteblumeOnTour, praised the idea: “It’s good, so everyone can immediately see who belongs to the MAGA-Trump sect and who should not be allowed into their country. All other normal US Americans still have their normal passport without the orange flashbulb on them.”
Others were less impressed. Nan Gale wrote: “I think it is Horrible, I am so thankful I recently got a passport without the unpatriotic redesign. How many are happy they do not have the new redesign?”
Nancy Stork wondered about the message: “Hmm, didn’t the people who received a passport earlier follow the rules? And what’s the point of this statement if U.S. citizens are travelling with it, since that’s what the passport is for?”
Vilonmoney added: “It’s going to be a nice idea to really know the reason why they want to use those old Patriots as part of the United States passport. What happened to the virtue, or what are we trying to transmit to other people that are watching, we need value more than pictures.”
KingLoie speculated: “No doubt it has a chip in it to go with the 24/7 Palantir Surveillance, facial/gait recognition and data centres.”
