Republican lawmakers are determined in President Donald Trump‘s second term to raise him among the presidential greats — joining George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and others.
A bill to rename the Kennedy Center to the “Donald Trump Center for the Performing Arts” was introduced last week. It is not the first time in Trump’s second term that Republican lawmakers have proposed ideas to honor him.
From additions to national monuments to creating a federal holiday in Trump’s honor, here are all the ways lawmakers have attempted to put their flattery into legislation.
Kennedy Center
Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO) introduced the “Make Entertainment Great Again” act on July 23, proposing to rename the “John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts” to “Donald J. Trump Center for Performing Arts.”
Trump, who is the chairman of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees, has “been working to preserve the integrity of the fine arts by ending woke programming and rebalancing the Kennedy Center’s $234 million budget,” and has helped it get out of debt, according to Onder.
Other House Republicans have also proposed changing the opera’s name to the “First Lady Melania Trump Opera Center” in a fiscal 2026 interior bill — an addition created by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID). The amendment was adopted by a 33-25 vote in the House Appropriations Committee, but it has yet to receive a full vote by the House and the Senate.
However, Kennedy Center personnel argue that the law that created the center prohibits any of the facilities from being renamed: “After December 2, 1983, no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
The Kennedy family has also spoken out about both pieces of legislation, criticizing them and calling them a “petty effort.”
Transportation systems
Lawmakers have proposed multiple efforts to rename transportation systems after the president.
Most recently, the Palm Beach County, Florida, Board of Commissioners unanimously voted earlier in July to rename a road as “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.”
This 4-mile road strip runs between Palm Beach International Airport and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
In May, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) introduced a bill to rename the Washington Metro system after Trump and his MAGA slogan. This would change the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to the Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access. The Metrorail would also be called the Trump Train.
The bill has not received any action since May 30.
Three days after Trump was sworn into his second term, Rep. Addison McDowell (R-NC) proposed to rename Washington Dulles International Airport to Donald J. Trump International Airport.
The latest action on this bill came on Feb. 1, when it was referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation.
Nobel Peace Prize
Several lawmakers have talked Trump up to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Four presidents have won the prize, including only one Republican.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some members of Congress have nominated Trump after his efforts in the Middle East and his attempts to keep the United States out of long-term foreign conflicts.
“He forged the Abraham Accords,” Netanyahu said on July 7. “He’s forging peace as we speak in one country and one region after the other. So, I want to present to you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize committee. It’s nominating you for the Peace Prize, which is well deserved, and you should get it.”
Currency
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) proposed putting the president on the $100 bill. He wrote in his legislation that no $100 bill printed after Dec. 31, 2028, could be printed without Trump’s portrait on the front.
“There has been no one who has done more to bring America into the golden age than President Trump,” Gill said in a statement. “Featuring him on the $100 bill is a small way to honor all he will accomplish these next four years.”
I’m introducing the GOLDEN AGE ACT to put President Donald J. Trump on the $100 bill.
Let’s make history.
pic.twitter.com/iYXkmJm0Bg
— Congressman Brandon Gill (@RepBrandonGill) March 3, 2025
However, a federal law dating back to the Civil War bans putting living figures on U.S. currency. The bill has not gained any momentum.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who was not fond of Trump at first, also introduced a bill in February to create an exception to the U.S. currency limitations, creating a $250 bill.
The bill would direct the Bureau of Printing and Engraving to design and print a $250 bill, complete with a portrait of Trump. The honor hopes to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The bill was introduced on Feb. 27 and has not had any momentum since.
Federal holiday
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) proposed a bill on Feb. 14 to designate June 14, Trump’s birthday and Flag Day, as a federal holiday.
Tenney said that no president has been “more pivotal for our country than Donald J. Trump,” calling for him to be recognized as the “founder of America’s Golden Age.”
“By designating Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day as a federal holiday, we can ensure President Trump’s contributions to American greatness and the importance of the American Flag are forever enshrined into law,” Tenney said in a statement.
This bill has had no movement since February.
Mount Rushmore
On Jan. 28, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) introduced legislation to add a carving of Trump to Mount Rushmore.
Luna said it would honor Trump’s “transformative impact on America and the historical significance of his leadership.” That would put Trump alongside Presidents Washington, Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Teddy Roosevelt.
The last modification was in 1941.
Luna credits her bill to Trump’s two assassination attempts and a “sham impeachment,” and she said Trump has “shown not just resiliency in character but also to have been able to do what no other president has been able to accomplish.”
The congresswoman has two models of the redesigned Mount Rushmore in her office. However, the bill has gained no momentum since its introduction.
Backlash
While Republican lawmakers have supported these pieces of legislation, Democrats see the efforts as “embarrassments” for focusing on Trump rather than helping Americans.
“House Republicans continue to embarrass themselves,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said. “These people are sycophants.”
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However, the pieces of legislation have received praise from Trump in endorsement efforts. The president has already endorsed Gill and Luna in the 2026 midterm elections, calling them “MAGA Warriors.”
“In the general election, they just send a signal to Trump voters to turn out, to trust somebody and vote for them,” said Steve Stivers, the former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.