Putting a President's Image on the U.S. Passport Betrays Republican Principles and Should Not Be Dismissed as Trivial
Source: Adam Gopnik. "Pity the Poor Passport | The New Yorker." October 13, 2026. www.newyorker.com
The Gist
Gopnik argues that putting Trump's face on the U.S. passport, and loading the new design with flashy nationalist touches, goes against the American idea that leaders are temporary servants, not monarchs. Though it seems minor next to deportations and other policies, he says symbols matter because damage to democratic dignity is hard to undo. The passport should show no officeholder's picture.
Conclusion
A U.S. passport should bear the image and imprint of no officeholder, and the redesign (including the Trump-image 'Patriot Passport' and possible permanent Trump portrait) is a serious assault on democratic norms, not a trivial matter.
Premises
- The American passport has long been a deeply valued symbol of the nation's positive character, and its plain, peaceable wording (a request that the bearer pass without delay or hindrance) expresses that character.
- The Trump Administration has issued a limited-edition 'Patriot Passport' with Trump's image inside the cover, and the new passport design shown by Rubio appears to include Trump's face, alongside bombastic nationalist features such as a larger gold seal and a 'flip-book' eagle.
- In the American republican tradition, a President is a temporary custodian of an institution and just another citizen, so living leaders do not appear on money, stamps, or travel documents; honors like naming things come only after leaders have left office and history has judged them.
- Placing a sitting President's face on the passport is therefore an act of self-aggrandizement and tyrannical egotism, contrary to the republican premise of equality.
- Democracies live by enshrined symbols as well as by policies, and the absence of a living leader's image on national documents was a deliberate declaration of equality.
- Policy choices can be reversed, but the decorum and dignity of democracy, once defaced, cannot be wholly restored, so symbolic insults can be as grave as bad policy.
Assumptions
- The Trump portrait will in fact appear on the standard passport, or the limited-edition version signals that intent.
- The U.S. tradition of not depicting living leaders on official documents is a binding norm rather than mere convention.
- Symbolic norms materially shape citizens' commitment to democratic institutions.
- The motive behind the design is self-aggrandizement rather than patriotic or commemorative purposes (e.g., the 250th anniversary).
- Damage to symbolic norms is largely irreversible, unlike damage from policy.
- Comparing Trump's conduct to monarchs and autocrats is apt.