GOP pushes to honor Trump with monumental tributes
3 Min Read
Critics see these efforts as attempts to deify a sitting president, a move rarely seen in American history.
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President-elect Donald Trump flanked by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of S.D. talks to reporters after a meeting with Republican leadership at the Capitol on January 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
Lawmakers in the Republican party are looking for ways to honor US President Donald Trump in his lifetime. Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas believes that Donald Trump, not the Founding Father, ought to be featured on the $100 note.
Gill's Golden Age Act of 2025 is one of five pro-Trump House proposals launched in the two months after the president began his second term. Other proposals include making Trump's birthday a government holiday, renaming Dulles Airport in his honor, carving Trump's face on Mount Rushmore, and issuing a new $250 note featuring his face.
According to Politico, the multi-front attempt to honor a president still alive, let alone in the White House, is unprecedented in congressional history. While none of the proposals are anticipated to become law, they demonstrate how far some House Republicans are prepared to go with their pro-Trump attitude.
Other American history experts see these bills in a more negative light. Princeton University Professor Sean Wilentz described it as an attempt "to transform a sitting president into a kind of deified figure" - something George Washington himself dreaded.
"This is exactly what the American Revolution was fought to prevent," said Wilentz, the author of "The Rise of American Democracy."
Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina proposed a $250 bill to honor Trump’s service and highlight the upcoming 250th anniversary of the U.S.
He emphasized Trump’s contributions to border security and tax cuts that boosted job creation as reasons for featuring him alongside figures like Washington, Franklin, and Lincoln. Wilson also mentioned working with various organizations to promote events for the anniversary.
There is no clear and fast rule against honoring current presidents. Barack Obama, for example, had many schools and roads named after him while in office, and a street in Hialeah, Florida, was renamed in Trump's honor in December. That was the responsibility of local governments, not Congress.
It is not unusual for federal parliamentarians to recognize a living former president. The Republican-controlled Congress decided in 1998 to rename Washington National Airport after Ronald Reagan. It was one of numerous initiatives at the time to memorialize the 40th president, who had recently disclosed an Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and withdrawn from public life.
Former Rep. Matt Salmon opposed placing Trump on Mount Rushmore while still in office, citing the precedent set by Reagan's push in the 1990s. Historian David Greenberg criticized the trend of Trump-themed legislation, emphasizing that such honors are rarely given to living or sitting presidents and calling them "huge cults of personality."
Greenberg noted how "we don’t or we almost never do this kind of thing for living presidents, especially sitting presidents.”
Trump has not backed any of the legislative commemorations, and those engaged claim he had no role in launching them.
Rep. Troy Nehls, one of Trump's staunchest allies on Capitol Hill and a co-sponsor of Gill's legislation claims the actions are only initiatives aimed at showing "some love and respect to the greatest president in our lifetimes."
