Discussion
… #Trump is still on a renaming crusade that seems aimed not at building a legacy so much as appropriating those of others. He seems to find that approach easier.
As president, the real estate mogul & self-proclaimed builder of great things has turned out to be not much of a builder at all. He tears stuff down.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/opinion/trump-university-airport.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Occasionally, as with the #EastWing of the #WhiteHouse, #Trump destroys something meaningful, with an eye toward replacing it with a bigger, golder version more befitting his imperial tastes. But he seems to lack what it takes to create or even to inspire institutions or monuments built to endure.
Drawing glory & profit from the creations of others has long been part of Trump’s M.O. The Trump Organization has licensed the family name for use on other companies’ developments.
At developments as far afield as Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver & Trump private mansions in the United Arab Emirates, licensing agreements let #Trump take credit for a global real estate empire while avoiding the construction work & assuming none of the responsibility.
Now in his golden years, the president seems determined to put his stamp on public landmarks and institutions built neither by him nor in his honor.
…For a dismayed public, there are consolations. #Trump’s renaming effort carries the stench of #StolenValor, but it results in less cruelty & human suffering than so much else the president is up to. Carving his name into buildings might be self-indulgent, but no one is getting gunned down in the process. Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the House minority leader, has derided the renaming as “presidential graffiti,” which captures its inherent pettiness.
