Commemorative passports featuring Trump draw both delight and ire

+ National Commemorative passports featuring Trump draw both delight and ire July 7, 20264:41 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Michele Kelemen Commemorative passports featuring Trump draw both delight and ire Listen &middot; 2:04 2:04 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5883889/nx-s1-9838915" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript President Trump's image on a limited-edition U.S.

+ Sponsor Message Transcript A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: The State Department is issuing passports commemorating America's 250th birthday. The first page has a picture of President Trump. Americans can only get them in person at the passport office in Washington, D.C. You need an appointment, and they are only available for a limited time, as NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

+ MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: John Hall (ph) has been on hold for hours to try to get inside the door of the Washington Passport Agency to apply for a passport with Trump's image in it. JOHN HALL: There's only - what? - 30,000 of these going to be give out. It's a commemorative thing to have. KELEMEN: He drove all the way from Alabama in his bright red Hyundai. HALL: I'm a big Trump supporter, as you can see on the back. KELEMEN: Oh, yeah. HALL: It's got 47, my president. KELEMEN: And on the front of the car it says MAGA red. But while he desperately tries to get one of these passports, Kim Zaninovich (ph) walks out with one depressed to see Trump's face on the first page. KIM ZANINOVICH: It's an angry look. He's standing in front of the Declaration of Independence, which is something that he clearly doesn't stand for. You know, I think it's very interesting that here we are, the 250th anniversary of this country, and the grievances that were written against King George are the same grievances, for the most part, that could be written against him right now. And it's embarrassing. KELEMEN: She's traveling this week and just happened to have an emergency appointment on the day the State Department began issuing these passports. Zaninovich says she didn't have a choice to opt out. Ariel Barras (ph) says he did have a choice, and opted in. ARIEL BARRAS: I know Trump's signature is on it. But, you know, it's still a special passport, 250. I came here for the fireworks. It was very nice. You know, why not? Celebrating 250 for the U.S. AUTOMATED VOICE: Your call is important to us. All representatives are still busy. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) HALL: Good to know the call is important them. (LAUGHTER) KELEMEN: Alabama resident John Hall did finally get through to someone, who gave him an appointment, but not until next week. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department. (SOUNDBITE OF FLYAMSAM'S "THE OFFBEAT") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{309:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(80)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(770),o(154),o(175),o(93),o(448),o(253),o(128),o(130),o(755),o(174),o(756),o(254),o(77),o(774)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},783:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(309)}},[[783,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();