Toponymic narcissism
- Bruce Botelho
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Bruce Botelho
History is replete with public figures who have sought to consolidate their power or aggrandize their role as leaders by dominating their landscapes with images of their likeness. The Roman emperors Caligula and Nero, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Napoleon Bonaparte all obsessed over their place in history with monuments large and small. In our own era we recall Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein.
Not surprisingly, this practice of naming places after oneself in order to satisfy the leader’s ego-driven need for admiration and permanence has a name: toponymic narcissism.
In a democratic society this narcissism is a rare phenomenon. While we too venerate our leaders, we do so after they have left their (temporary) turn as elected officials and most frequently after their deaths.
It is therefore jarring to observe the spectacle of Donald Trump using his office to make sure this and future generations do not forget his name. His compulsion to brand everything he touches characterized his business life. Unfortunately, the institutions of the United States have simply become the newest platforms for plastering his name in bold and gold.
While he did not achieve the Nobel Peace Prize, he renamed the United States Institute of Peace (whose staff was decimated by DOGE) the ”Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace.” Naming himself chair of the Kennedy Center and replacing the entire board, this pre-eminent institution is now the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” (to be closed for two years to renovate the renovations made seven years ago).
We should be thankful that, in rejecting the historic designation “Gulf of Mexico”, he forwent the “Gulf of Trump” in favor of the “Gulf of America.” Nevertheless, the gulf by whatever name will soon be patrolled by a new generation of “Trump-class” battleships.
Trump will be trailing you from the womb to the tomb. Start with the “Trump accounts” for children and end with “TrumpRx” for a prescription in your old age. It’s not true that Trump dislikes all immigrants. Join “Team America” by contributing $1 million and receive the “Trump Gold Card”.
Also in the works is a $1 coin bearing — you guessed it — Trump’s likeness. You can find his visage if you purchase the National Park Service’s “America The Beautiful” pass.
Trump reportedly tried to leverage his withholding of Congressionally appropriated funds for a tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey by proposing to release the funds in exchange for naming both Penn Station and Dulles International Airport after himself. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer rejected the deal.
There are so many egregious actions that the Trump administration undertakes that these aberrations pale by comparison. Nevertheless, it is difficult to stay silent lest one be viewed as acquiescent. I find some solace in the perspective offered in Percy Shelley’s "Ozymandias":
“. . .On the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies…And on the pedestal these words appear: ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ No thing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away.”
• Bruce M. Botelho is a former Alaska attorney general who served both Republican and Democratic governors. Initially appointed by Gov. Wally Hickel, he was subsequently retained as attorney general by Gov. Tony Knowles. He was born in Juneau, where he served four terms as mayor.
