A limited-edition US passport bearing President Donald Trump’s likeness will be issued to mark the country’s 250th year of independence, the president revealed Friday in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The mock-up, which Trump captioned “The U.S.A.’s New Passport, which says, ‘Welcome, but be good!'”, depicts him leaning on his desk with a stern expression, accompanied by his signature and the text of the Declaration of Independence behind him. The portrait appears to draw from an image captured by White House photographer Daniel Torok. On the facing page, a painting of the 1776 signing of the declaration is set alongside the phrase “United States of America 250.” A version shared by the White House carried the label “PATRIOT PASSPORT.”
The document marks a historic departure: Trump becomes the first sitting president to appear in Americans’ travel papers. Until now, the only chief executives shown in current passports have featured in a two-page rendering of Mt. Rushmore, depicting George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Existing passports also display the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and landscapes of the Great Plains, mountains and islands, along with quotations from Martin Luther King Jr. and Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower.
The State Department had signaled in advance that a commemorative passport with custom artwork would become available beginning July 6. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the agency was preparing to release the specially designed documents as the country marks its anniversary, adding that they would carry “customized artwork and enhanced imagery while maintaining the same security features that make the US passport the most secure documents in the world.” An official noted in April that the Trump-themed editions would be obtainable solely through in-person appointments in Washington “for as long as there is availability.” The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday’s rendering.
Between 25,000 and 30,000 of the passports are expected to be offered to applicants at the Washington passport office, with distribution starting in the days ahead of July 4.
The release continues a broader pattern of Trump attaching his name and image to government property and official documents. Plans are underway to print his signature on new US paper currency and to feature his likeness on a gold coin commemorating the nation’s founding. The Treasury Department has indicated his signature will soon appear on the one-dollar bill, while banners bearing his image have been hung outside several federal buildings. Earlier, Trump’s name was affixed to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts before a court ordered its removal.
