A U.S. passport is one of the most important documents an American can carry. It is proof of citizenship — a document that belongs to every American, regardless of who they voted for or what they believe. It should never be used as a political billboard.

The State Department has announced plans to release commemorative passports featuring a photo of President Donald Trump, making him the first sitting president ever to appear in this travel document. Between 25,000 and 30,000 of these passports will be issued at the Washington, D.C. passport office starting just before July 4 — and they will be the default option for anyone applying in person there. Taxpayer-funded government ID should not be used to promote any individual politician's image or brand.

This is especially troubling given what the State Department has done to passports under this administration. In January 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the State Department to eliminate the gender-neutral "X" designation from passports and halt all sex marker corrections. As a result, transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Americans are now forced to carry passports that do not reflect who they are — a policy that the Supreme Court has allowed to stand while legal challenges continue. The agency stripped the rights of some of the most vulnerable Americans to use their own passport as an accurate form of identification. Now, that same agency wants to put the president's face on it.

Americans across the political spectrum have good reason to be uncomfortable with a sitting president's likeness appearing on a federal travel document — a standard more commonly associated with authoritarian governments than with American democracy. Our passport should represent the country, not one man.

We call on Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Congress to halt the production and distribution of Trump-branded commemorative passports, and to ensure that federal travel documents remain neutral instruments of citizenship — for all Americans.