Donald Trump on Friday unveiled a new commemorative passport that quickly sparked confusion online, with critics questioning whether the president understands what a passport is actually for.
The president shared a sneak peek of what he called the “U.S.A.’s New Passport” on Truth Social, revealing a commemorative America250 design with a distinctly Trumpian twist.
“The U.S.A.’s New Passport, which says, ‘Welcome, but be good!’ President DJT,” he wrote.
A U.S. passport is issued to American citizens for international travel and is not a visa, green card, or citizenship document. It is not used to admit foreign visitors to the country, as many pointed out.
“Who does the moron think gets passports?,” one person wrote. “The next president needs to cancel this c--p and declare it invalid.”
“Ummmm… U.S. passports are used by U.S. citizens traveling abroad. Welcome to what?” another asked.
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House and State Department for comment.
The passport—ostensibly released to mark America’s 250th anniversary—features Trump’s signature beneath his own stylized image, with “United States of America” printed below.
The portrait shows the president looming over the Resolute Desk in front of the text of the Declaration of Independence. The self-celebrating design immediately drew ridicule online.
“Kim Jong Un thinks this is a bit much,” one person wrote.
“Whether you voted for Trump or not, NO American should be OK with the occupant of the White House putting his own image on a U.S. passport commemorating America’s 250th birthday,” another wrote.
“This country was founded to reject kings, not manufacture one.”
The Trump portrait at the center of the design has its own messy backstory.
It appears to be based on a scowling Oval Office image now displayed at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, where it replaced an earlier Trump portrait last July.
When the new portrait went up, the gallery also removed language referring to Trump’s two impeachments and his supporters’ Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The swap has since become part of a broader pattern since Trump returned to office, with the president increasingly shaping how his presidency is visually memorialized.
It remains unclear whether the image Trump shared is the official version of the commemorative passport or an early mock-up rather than an official design.
The image of the president is not the same as earlier State Department renderings, which showed a different Trump portrait.
The State Department is releasing just 40,000 of the limited-edition commemorative passports, according to Daily Signal, and will display them at its booth at the Great American State Fair.
The outlet also reported that starting July 6, the special-edition passport will become the default version issued to anyone who applies in person at the Washington Passport Agency while supplies last.
A U.S. official previously told CNN that online applications and other passport locations will keep the existing design.
