Watch: Trump attends the ceremony to rename Southern Boulevard in his honor in Florida

President Donald Trump on Friday attended a ceremony at his home in Florida to mark the renaming of a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.

Watch the event in the video player above.

“This is a very important step,” Trump said as he thanked local officials for their dedication.

“When people see that beautiful sign beautifully lit at night and it says ‘Donald J. Trump Boulevard,’ they’ll feel proud. Just proud,” Trump said. “Not in me. Pride in our country.”

Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.

Trump will not leave it to future generations.

As the first year of his second term ended, his Republican administration and its allies put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and a new class of battleships that had yet to be built.

He watches: The Kennedy Center faces artist cancellations and declining ticket sales after adding Trump’s name

This is in addition to “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, a TrumpRx government website that will soon feature direct sales of prescription drugs, a “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million, and the Trump Pathway to International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Another example of the unconventionality of Trump’s career

It is unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace such numbers and magnitude, especially those from members of his administration. While former presidents in office are typically honored by local officials by naming schools and roads after them, it is much rarer for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named after someone still in power.

“Never before in history have we named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, director of the David Gergen Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “This might extend to say a president is still alive. This type of memorialization is supposed to just be memorials to the late hero.”

the pictures: The Kennedy Center adds Trump’s name to the memorial established by Congress to JFK

White House spokeswoman Liz Houston said TrumpRx, linked to the president’s deals to lower prices for certain prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades to national monuments, permanent peace agreements, and children’s wealth creation accounts, are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”

“The administration’s focus is not on smart branding, but on achieving President Trump’s goal of Make America Great Again,” Houston said.

The White House noted that the nation’s capital was named after President George Washington, and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while both were serving as president.

For Trump, this is a continuation of the way he first carved his place in the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who put his name in large gold letters on buildings, luxury hotels, casinos and products as diverse as neckties, wine and steaks.

Trump’s for-profit brand persists

While running for president in 2024, the candidate launched Trump-branded businesses for watches, perfumes, Bibles and sneakers — including gold high-tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump’s companies launched Trump Mobile, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a memcoin cryptocurrency called Trump.

This should not be confused with plans to issue an actual government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasury Secretary Brandon Beach has said the U.S. Mint is planning.

Trump has reportedly told the owners of an NFL team in Washington that he would like to put his name on the new Commanders Stadium. The team’s ownership group, which holds the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November described the proposed name as “beautiful” and said Trump had made rebuilding the stadium possible.

The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so enraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban naming or renaming any federal building or land after a sitting president — a ban that applies retroactively to the Kennedy Center and the Institute of Peace.

“I think he’s a narcissist who likes to see his name out there,” Sanders said in an interview. “If he owns a hotel, that’s his business.” “But he doesn’t own the federal buildings.”

Sanders likened Trump’s tendency to put his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.

“If the American people want to name buildings after a deceased president, that’s fine. That’s what we’re doing,” Sanders said. “But using federal buildings to advance your position sounds very much like North Korea’s ‘Great Leader’ mentality, and that’s not something I think the American people want.”

Although some names were suggested by others, the President made it clear that he was pleased with these honors.

Three months after announcing Trump’s Pathway for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was suggested by Armenian officials, the president spoke passionately about it during a White House dinner.

“It’s a beautiful thing. They named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually important,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.

The practice can send a signal to people “that the easiest way to get to the president and get his endorsement is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him,” said Engel, the presidential historian.

Supporters say the honor is well deserved

Some proposals to honor Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney to designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day,” which would place the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.

Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation calling for the Washington area’s rapid transit system, known as Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.

McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to renovate the airport, which is currently a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a hero in the fight against the fentanyl scourge, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother died of an overdose. But he also pointed to Trump’s efforts to reach peace agreements around the world and called him “one of the most important presidents ever.”

“I think this is someone who deserves to be honored, whether he is still president or not,” he added.

More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.

Republican state Rep. Meg Weinberger said she is working on trying to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dallas effort.

The street dedicated to Trump on Friday is not the first asphalt street in Florida to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.

In the southern Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there after President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.

Trump, speaking at a business conference in Miami the following month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the city’s mayor because of it.

“Anyone who names a street after me, I like it,” he said.

“A lot of people come back from Hialeah and say, ‘They just named the road after you,'” he added a few moments later. I say: “It’s okay.” It’s the beginning, isn’t it? “It’s the beginning.”