Why I Won’t Be Carrying A ‘Trump Passport’

The State Department’s new commemorative “Patriot Passport,” issued for America’s 250th anniversary and featuring President Trump’s image, has been in high demand – TLS reported that an additional 250,000 were released after the first batch was snapped up. I understand the appeal. But after these midterm elections, I have even less interest in carrying one.

The blue wave that put Democrats back in control of the House and Senate should give Republicans something to think about. To me, the results show how much anger at Trump there is around the country. You can disagree with that anger. You can think the voters got it wrong. But pretending it isn’t there won’t make it disappear.

That doesn’t tell us how a border official overseas will treat anyone. It does make me ask a simple question: with politics this heated, why carry a travel document that could be taken as a personal endorsement of Trump?

The moment you hand that passport to a border agent, an airline clerk, or a consular officer abroad, you’ve told them something about your politics. Not with your words – with your document. Fair or not, a passport bearing the sitting president’s image reads to many people as a statement about who you support.

Most of the time, it won’t matter. The overwhelming majority of officials you’ll deal with are professionals doing their jobs. But travel puts you at the mercy of strangers at exactly the wrong moments: the agent who decides whether your bag gets a “secondary inspection,” the consular officer reviewing your visa application, the border official in a country where American politics runs hot and the U.S. embassy is far away.

All it takes is one person on a bad day who doesn’t like what your passport seems to say about you. They don’t need a reason to give you a hard time, but why hand them one? Every extra question, every “random” screening, every delayed stamp costs you time, missed connections, and sometimes money. And there’s nobody to complain to when a petty official decides to be petty.

I feel the same way about political bumper stickers on a car: why volunteer the information? A passport is a travel document, not a campaign poster. Its job is to get me from point A to point B with as little friction as possible. The one that does that job best is the plain blue one that says nothing about how I vote.

America’s 250th anniversary is worth celebrating, and if you want the commemorative passport as a keepsake, by all means get one and frame it. But for actual travel, I’d rather stay neutral, stay forgettable, and get where I’m going.

The regular passport works just fine. Keep it that way.

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