Donald Trump has a weird obsession that directly plays into his ginormous ego. He wants to stamp his name on everything, from steaks to universities to hotels to things relating to the very history of the nation—that much is well-documented. But his latest branding scheme has just crossed from tacky self-promotion into something far more troubling.
The POTUS is now using billions in federal funding as leverage to force Congress to rename major American landmarks after him.
No, you read that right the first time. No, I’m not making any of it up. According to a new report by CNN, Trump has attempted to strong-arm Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer into renaming both Dulles International Airport and New York’s Penn Station after the sitting president, dangling billion in frozen infrastructure funds for New York as his bargaining chip.
Schumer, to his credit, has told Trump exactly where he can shove that particular proposal.
What’s so funny and absurd about this is that Trump didn’t try to leverage this fund to help conservative policies ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. He didn’t demand tax cuts or regulatory rollbacks, all of which are problematic in their own right. No, the president is literally being petty because he wants to slap his name on everything within reach.
Trump later claimed, with characteristic shamelessness, that Schumer had been the one to suggest renaming Penn Station after him. Schumer dismissed this as an “absolute lie.”
This obsession with legacy has reached an all-time high during Trump’s second term. Otherwise, why would he rechristen the Kennedy Center as the Trump-Kennedy Center? Or announce “Trump-class” warships for the navy? Then there’s Trump Accounts for children, Trump Gold Car for wealthy immigrants, and even TrumpRX—a prescription drug website that sounds more like something that’d come out of his casinos.
There’s something poignant about how desperate this all seems. Trump’s legacy is so fragile—even in his own mind—that he needs to rely on gilded surfaces to preserve it. These are the actions of a man who understands that without golden letters, there’s not much left to remember besides the endless stream of controversies.
The extortion attempt failed this time. Schumer said no. But what will happen the next time? Or the time after that? Will everyone have the courage to stand up to the president? With how some current proceedings like the Epstein saga are going, we already know the answer.
Trump doesn’t need to win every fight. He just needs to wear people down until they stop fighting back.
