Trump escalates ‘increasingly weird glorification campaign’

President Donald Trump’s “increasingly weird glorification campaign” has become a “ridiculous crusade” that does nothing to flatter the Republican leader.

Quoting The Washington Post, MS NOW’s Steve Benen wrote on Tuesday that the “increasingly ridiculous crusade” reached its recent apex after Trump “shared the first images of his planned presidential library in downtown Miami, posting a short video Monday night that depicts a skyscraper that appears to be about 50 stories tall and filled with reconstructions of parts of the White House, military vehicles and at least two gold statues of Trump.”

The Post via Benen added, “The 100-second video, which Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, offers a series of views of the planned Donald J. Trump Presidential Library, represented as a gleaming glass and gold structure that would dwarf nearby buildings, topped by a red-white-and-blue spire.”

As Benen pointed out, the video clearly relied heavily on artificial intelligence and seems designed to look not like a library but “like a skyscraper that would exist to celebrate one person.” From there, Benen listed other Trump self-glorification projects including “U.S. currency: Trump recently announced plans to add his signature to U.S. dollars — a first for a sitting American president — which is not to be confused with plans for a massive, 3-inch commemorative gold coin featuring Trump’s face,” buildings such as his White House ballroom, the Kennedy Center and the Institute of Peace, “plans to construct ‘Trump-class’ battleships are underway, and the nation’s next-generation fighter jet will have an ‘F-47’ designation in honor of him, “training for incoming Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents was reduced from 50 days to 47 days in honor of Trump,” “banners: Giant, fascistic banners featuring Trump’s face are currently resting on the front of several government buildings, including the headquarters of the Labor, Agriculture Department and Justice departments,” “accoutrement: the administration also launched ‘Trump Gold Cards,’ ‘Trump Accounts’ and ‘TrumpRx’” and even trying to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Strait of Hormuz as “Gulf of Trump” and “Strait of Trump.”

Writing for CNN in February, Aaron Blake noted that Trump attempted to coerce a release of funds New York and New Jersey need to construct an underwater railway project if New York’s Penn Station and Washington Dulles Airport were named after him.

"His proposition to [Senate Minority Leader] Schumer practically slaps you across the face in its degree of blatant self-dealing," Blake wrote. "Republicans should probably start asking themselves how much they’re willing to entertain this level of self service."

He later added, "[E]ven beyond the 'yuck' factor, there’s good reason to believe this is a rather poorly conceived move. Indeed, Trump’s efforts to glorify himself appear to be a major and growing problem for him right now."

That same month journalist Michael Wolff told podcast co-host Joanne Coles that Trump initially wanted to take President John F. Kennedy’s name entirely off of the arts center named after him.

"His first idea was to call this the Trump Center,” Wolff explained, adding that Trump asked, “Why does this have to be Kennedy? That was such a long time ago.” He added that “I was almost assassinated. Therefore, it should be me."

Eventually he was talked down to sharing the name with Kennedy, even though he lacks the legal authority to make the change.

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