Trump Pushes to Rename Buildings and Sites After Himself
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What happened
President Donald Trump mused in a Truth Social post about renaming the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, to "Trump Strait," after earlier second-term changes that redesignated the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" in January 2025 and Lake Ontario as "Lake America." Since he returned to office, the administration and Republican-led states have attached his name or image to the United States Institute of Peace, banners on Cabinet buildings, the America the Beautiful pass, a proposed Trump-class of Navy ships, a Gold Card visa, TrumpRx.gov, children's Trump Accounts, proposed currency and limited-edition passports, a Florida boulevard near Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach International Airport, and a Tennessee interstate bridge. A Trump-appointed Kennedy Center board added his name to the performing-arts center; Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled in May 2026 that only Congress can change the name Congress gave the center and ordered it removed, after which the board voted to restore it and Justice Department lawyers told a court that if a planned renovation did not proceed, "the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down." In a New York Magazine interview, Trump agreed with Sen. Jon Ossoff's claim that the namings were happening because no one would honor him after he left, saying, "That's true. Nobody will do it once I'm gone."
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Right-leaning coverage does not report the Strait of Hormuz idea at all, so a reader would not know Trump had floated renaming it after himself. Left-leaning coverage records that he mused about changing it to Trump Strait in a Truth Social post, then turns the remark into a catalog of banners, coins, an airport, and a new class of Navy ships already carrying his name. That inventory never appears on the other side.
Left-leaning coverage quotes a White House spokesman saying the president is not "garnering recognition." Right-leaning coverage instead quotes Trump agreeing that "Nobody will do it once I'm gone." That admission does not appear in the left-leaning account.
Has any federal agency been told to put Trump Strait on a map, or was the idea only a social-media post?
Bottom line
The Washington Examiner never mentioned a Trump Strait. Business Insider headlined that Trump wants to rename the Strait of Hormuz after himself, then filled the story with coins, passports, and an airport instead of any follow-through on the waterway.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Trump mused in a Truth Social post about changing the Strait of Hormuz to Trump Strait
- Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled that only Congress can change the Kennedy Center's name and ordered Trump's name removed
- Trump said he did not know if the White House ballroom would be named after him but that it should
- Navy budget documents project the USS Defiant to cost more than $17 billion
- Trump said he did not suggest the Institute of Peace renaming and that Marco Rubio proposed it
The Left View
Business Insider presents the Hormuz post as the latest instance of what it calls Trump's longstanding "penchant for putting his name on things," cataloging federal and state namings and likenesses since he returned to office and noting that he has often proceeded "despite criticism and lawsuits." The outlet juxtaposes that record with a White House spokesman's statement that the president is "focused on saving our country — not garnering recognition" and that it is "natural" for officials to honor his accomplishments. It highlights legal fights over the recreation pass, the Kennedy Center, and whether a living president may appear on coins, and records Trump saying he did not propose some of the names himself.
The Right View
The Washington Examiner focuses on Trump's response to Democratic criticism of the D.C. namings rather than the Hormuz post, quoting Sen. Jon Ossoff calling him a "failed president" who is "building a monument to himself" because "no one will honor him when he's gone" — a theory Trump endorsed. The paper reports that the administration has "largely sought to rename D.C. structures where he has had a direct impact," and that the State Department tied the Institute of Peace name to his role as "the greatest dealmaker in our nation's history." It notes lawsuits from Democrats and historic preservationists, and quotes Trump saying of a planned White House ballroom that he did not know if it would bear his name, "but it should."
Our Take (balanced)
The left's strongest argument is scale and process: the volume of namings across geography, currency, passports, ships, and cultural institutions, plus the attempt to restore the Kennedy Center name after a court held that only Congress can change it, supports a charge of personal branding of the state rather than ordinary commemoration. The right's strongest argument is Trump's candor and the administration's impact claim: he openly agreed that successors will not honor him, and officials justify specific namings as recognition of peace deals and projects he has overseen, treating Democratic attacks as partisan. The unresolved tension is whether a sitting president's name on public landmarks and instruments is earned recognition of record — or an improper use of office to lock in honors that, as Trump himself said, "nobody will do" after he leaves.
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