A Florida congressman has launched a invoice that might rename Washington D.C.’s metro system the Trump Prepare and rebrand D.C.’s transit authority total, as nicely.
This isn’t a joke, as humorous as it might sound, and it’s simply the newest try to glorify President Donald Trump by rebranding infrastructure and buildings.
Rep. Greg Steube’s measure, referred to as the Make Autorail Nice Once more Act, after President Donald Trump’s Make America Nice Once more marketing campaign slogan, would block all federal funding to the Washington Metropolitan Space Transit Authority, WMATA, till it additionally formally renames the transit system the Washington Metropolitan Authority for Larger Entry, or WMAGA.
Steube issued a press release, in keeping with The Hill, contending the invoice demanding the D.C. transit system identify change is all about cash and lowering federal prices.
“WMATA has obtained billions in federal help over time and continues to face operational, security, and financial challenges,” Steube mentioned. “Within the spirit of DOGE, this invoice calls for accountability by conditioning federal funding on reforms that sign a cultural shift away from bureaucratic stagnation towards public-facing excellence and patriotism.”
It’s no coincidence that the brand new acronym is much like Trump’s MAGA marketing campaign slogan and the time period used to explain his supporters. And Republicans’ efforts to honor Trump via rebranding aren’t new.
After Trump misplaced the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, Steube, one and the identical, launched a invoice that might have renamed the waters across the U.S. the “Donald John Trump Unique Financial Zone,” in keeping with MSNBC. However that effort was lifeless within the water, with no probability of passing the Senate, which was held by the Democrats at the moment.
And this isn’t the one GOP effort to venerate Trump. There are a number of payments on the desk coping with cash. One would create a brand new $250 invoice that includes Trump’s face, and one other would substitute Benjamin Franklin’s face on the $100 invoice with Trump’s. Then there’s a invoice that might make Trump’s birthday a federal vacation, one other that might rename Dulles Worldwide Airport, and nonetheless one other measure that might add Trump’s face to Mount Rushmore.
A latest New York Instances story described it this fashion: “A contest of kinds has damaged out for whom the Republican base will see as probably the most pro-Trump member.”
“The push of flattering laws, a few of which even the lawmakers concede is unlikely to move, stands aside from merely finishing up Mr. Trump’s agenda. … ‘It exhibits the ability that Donald Trump has inside the Republican Social gathering nowadays, and that Republican members wish to keep on his good facet,” Sean M. Theriault, authorities professor on the College of Texas at Austin, informed NYT
“Numerous these persons are in actually secure districts, however they’re additionally fascinated about what their subsequent step is. And so, if they’ve designs on being within the Senate or working for governor or perhaps a place within the administration, then there’s no higher method to get on his good facet than to do these over-the-top strikes towards him,” Theriault mentioned.
Response on social media is as anticipated. One put up on X exhibits a prepare crashing via a bridge into the water.
One other X poster, responding to a Steube put up about altering the identify to “do away with delays, dysfunction and decay,” puzzled, “Who votes for these f*%$# morons anyway?”
A Trump supporter joked that the Democrats would boycott the rebranded prepare system, “Thereby maintaining Democrats out of Washington. Sheer genius!”
One other put up referred to as Steube a “MAGA moron” for introducing the identify change invoice and nonetheless one other referred to as the concept “insane.”
The Washington Metropolitan Space Transit Authority says 600,000 clients use the transit system every single day to journey round D.C., Virginia and Maryland. The system is the second busiest within the U.S., with 98 stations.
