The Department of State is rolling out an additional 250,000 of the “special commemorative passports” featuring President Donald Trump’s face.
The agency announced on Thursday that it was expanding access to what it calls the “Patriot Passport” because of “overwhelming demand.”
The special passport design was initially unveiled in April, when the State Department said it would “release a limited number” of the travel documents to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary. The design includes an image of the President alongside the text of the Declaration of Independence, as well as a Freedom 250 gold flag and a depiction of the Founding Fathers gathering to sign the Declaration of Independence.
“Since its release in celebration of 250 years of American independence, the commemorative passport has generated extraordinary public interest,” the State Department said in its press release. “The Department of State is responding by expanding access so Americans across the country can obtain this unique and special document. The Department is hosting application events at passport agencies and centers for patriots all across our nation.”
Read More: All the Things Trump Has Put His Name and Face on as President
Several Democrats criticized the Trump Administration for expanding access to the new passports rather than focusing on other issues, such as affordability.
“Most of my constituents are asking how they’re going to afford rent, groceries, childcare, and health care,” Rep. April McClain Delaney, a Democrat from Maryland, said in a social media post on Thursday. “They are NOT focused on a Trump-branded commemorative passport for overseas travel. I’ll keep fighting for a more affordable America and for working families.”
American citizens interested in obtaining the limited-edition passport must make an in-person appointment to apply for it. Initially, the State Department was only offering appointments at the Washington Passport Agency; but, starting Aug. 8, the department is expanding access so that Americans can make appointments at passport agencies or centers nationwide.
Trump is the first living President to be displayed on the American passport. The travel document is one of a number of government items, buildings, and programs that Trump has attached—or tried to attach—his name and face to since he took office for a second term.
Earlier this month, the Palm Beach International Airport was officially renamed to the President Donald J. Trump International Airport. While several airports in the U.S. have been named after American Presidents—for instance, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City—the Palm Beach airport marks the first time that a President has had an airport named after him while sitting in the Oval Office.
Trump also displayed his name on the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.—but last month, six months after it was affixed to the building, it was removed, per a federal judge’s order to restore the cultural center’s original name.
Democrats have overwhelmingly denounced the President’s efforts to affix his name and likeness onto government buildings, programs, and items. Several lawmakers signed an open letter to Trump in February objecting to his plans to shutter the Kennedy Center for two years while it underwent renovations.
“The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to President Kennedy,” Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, a Democrat from Texas, said in a social media post, in which she shared the open letter in February. “President Trump’s announcement that it will also bear his name (in violation of the law establishing it) and that it will be closed for two years (for unidentified repairs) show the narcissism and lawlessness that define this Presidency.”
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