Devotees of Trump

President Trump, with Elon Musk and son
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Donald Trump began his second term the way we expected him to, only worse. Together with his Chief Executive (Elon Musk), Trump has carried out many of the goals of Project 2025. While Trump is misgoverning the country by Executive Order, Republicans in Congress and in the State Legislatures spend their time finding new ways to exalt their glorious leader. They seek to prove their devotion to Trump by putting his name on roads, airports and other places. Some of them also want to make Trump’s birthday a national holiday and carve his face on Mount Rushmore. Not even Ronald Reagan was given so many honors.

Some of the attempts to honor Trump happened before the election, and not surprisingly they happened in Florida or by Floridians. (Trump, who lives in Florida, is loved by many Floridians who voted for him in landslide numbers.) On June 13, GOP Congressman Greg Steube introduced a bill to rename the immediate waters surrounding the U.S. the “Donald John Trump Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States.” More successful was an attempt in Hialeah, a conservative, Latinx community with politics to match, to rename a road after the Donald. On December 3, after Trump flipped the formerly Democratic Miami-Dade County red, the County Commission approved Hialeah’s request to rename Palm Avenue the President Donald J. Trump Avenue. Even in Palm Beach County, which voted for Kamala Harris, a portion of Southern Boulevard near Mar-A-Lago will be named the President Donald J. Trump Boulevard, if State Rep. Danny Nix, Jr. has his way.

Floridians are not alone in trying to show their love for the 45th and 47th president. In Arizona, State Senator Wendy Rogers of the ironically named Kooksville wants to transform State Route 260 into the Donald J. Trump Highway. In Tennessee State Rep. Todd Warner’s proposal to rename Nashville International Airport after Trump was stopped in its tracks for the perfectly Republican reason that the change would cost the state too much money. It would have competed, on the federal level, with a bill that would rename Washington Dulles International Airport the Donald J. Trump International Airport. “We have entered the golden age of America largely thanks to President Trump’s leadership,” gushed Rep. Addison McDowell (NC), who introduced the legislation. “It is only right that the two airports servicing our nation’s capital are duly honored and respected by two of the best presidents to have the honor of serving our great nation,” the other one being Ronald Reagan.

Other Congressional ideas to honor Trump are positively surreal, though not as ridiculous as Rep. Buddy Carter’s (GA) proposal to buy Greenland and change its name to “Red, White and Blueland.” Rep. Claudia Tenney (NY) proposed making Trump’s birthday (June 14) a national holiday in conjunction with Flag Day (also June 14). Trump’s “impact on our nation is undeniable,” Tenney said, comparing the current president to George Washington, the Father of Our Country. Not to be outdone, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (FL) introduced a bill to carve Trump’s head on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, along with the rock sculptures of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Unlike the Florida Legislature, where Republicans enjoy a super majority, there are enough Democrats in Congress to derail such shenanigans. This will not stop the devotees of Trump, who will continue to seek ways to prove how much they love their MAGA Messiah.

Jesse’s Journal
By Jesse Monteagudo

Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and South Florida resident since 1964. Share your own experiences with him at jessemonteagudo@comcast.net.

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