US Senator reveals ‘real reason’ he thinks Trump is trying to put his name on things

Branding America

Since returning to office for a second term, Trump has attached his name to a growing number of government initiatives, buildings and proposals.

According to USA Today, the list includes the Trump Gold Card visa program aimed at wealthy immigrants, Trump-branded investment accounts, TrumpRx, Trump coins and plans for a new fleet of guided-missile warships known as Trump-class destroyers.

Palm Beach International Airport will soon be known as the President Donald J. Trump International Airport, complete with the call letters DJT – a move that would make it the first airport in U.S. history to bear the name of a sitting president.

And, despite the war mongering, his name has also been slapped on the United States Institute of Peace building in Washington, D.C.

In addition, The Washington Post reports that Trump is pushing the idea of placing his portrait on a new $250 bill, despite longstanding laws prohibiting living people from appearing on U.S. currency.

Trump’s name removed from Kennedy Center

Another naming effort recently ran into legal trouble.

On May 29 – JFK’s birthday – a federal judge in Washington ruled that renaming the Kennedy Center to The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts was unlawful.

“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy,” the judge wrote in his memorandum opinion. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.

The judge ordered the removal of the 18 letters that had been added to the center’s front portico, giving officials two weeks to take them down.

While supporters view many of these moves as recognition of Trump’s political influence, critics see something very different.

‘Building a monument to himself’

One of the most outspoken critics has been Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Atlanta, 39-year-old Ossoff – the youngest sitting U.S. senator – blasted Trump’s efforts to place his name on high-profile projects and symbols, arguing that the president is trying to shape his own legacy while still in office.

“He’s trying to put his face on the money; did you see that?” Ossoff told the crowd, according to The Hill. “He’s building a monument to himself.”