2025年12月，特朗普总统的名字被添加到了华盛顿特区肯尼迪中心的外墙上。不到六个月后，它被移除了，此前一名法官裁定，只有国会才能更改这座表演艺术综合体的名称，该中心被设立为约翰·F·肯尼迪的“活着的纪念碑”。上图为6月，工人们站在肯尼迪中心外的脚手架上。
In December 2025, President Trump's name was added to the exterior of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Less than six months later, it was removed, following a judge's ruling that only Congress can change the name of the performing arts complex, which was established as a "living memorial" to John F. Kennedy. Above, workers stand on scaffolding outside the Kennedy Center in June.
Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images 特朗普最近以威胁的方式强调了他让自己的名字出现在肯尼迪中心外墙上的愿望。“坦白说，如果我们不这么做，它就要关门了，”特朗普对记者说。“最终它会被拆除。”特朗普或其支持者呼吁让总统的名字出现在从海军战舰到机场的一切事物上。在任总统将自己的身份印在基础设施、货币和其他公共资产上是相当罕见的——尽管历史表明也有少数例外。乔治·华盛顿 “不想大惊小怪”关于这一问题的讨论可以追溯到第一届总统政府时期。
Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images President Trump recently underscored his desire to have his name appear on the facade of the Kennedy Center with a threat. "Frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close," Trump told reporters. "It'll end up being ripped down." Trump or his supporters have called for the president's name to appear on everything from naval battleships airports It's pretty rare for sitting presidents to stamp their identities on infrastructure, currency and other public assets — though history shows there are a few exceptions. George Washington " didn't want a lot of fuss" Discussions regarding this issue go all the way back to the first presidential administration.
乔治·华盛顿现在是1美元纸币上的头像，但这发生在他的总统任期和去世很久之后。当国会在斟酌首批美国硬币上印什么图案时，众议院认为总统不应出现在货币上，因为那是君主制国家才会做的事。
George Washington is now the face on $1 bills, but that didn't happen until long after his presidency and his death. When Congress was figuring out what to put on the inaugural American coins, the House of Representatives said the president shouldn't be on the currency because that's something a monarchy would do.
维多利亚·阿罗乔/美联社 乔治·华盛顿总统图书馆执行主任、《内阁：乔治·华盛顿与美国制度的创建》一书的作者林赛·切尔文斯基表示：“他们试图在新职位获得尊重所需的声望与避免重蹈君主制覆辙之间找到恰当的平衡。” 切尔文斯基称，这一问题最早在华盛顿担任总统期间，围绕1792年的《铸币法案》在联邦层面浮出水面。当时，国会正在考虑首批美国硬币上应刻印何种图案，因为英国及其他国家习惯将现任君主的名字和形象遍布于本国货币之上。
Victoria Arocho/AP "They were trying to figure out what was the right balance between the prestige required to give this new office respect, but also recognizing that they were not trying to re-create a monarchy," said Lindsay Chervinsky executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library and author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution Chervinsky said the issue first came up at the federal level during Washington's presidency around the Coinage Act of 1792. Congress was figuring out what to put on the inaugural American coins, given the habit in Great Britain and other nations of plastering the reigning monarch all over theirs.
“众议院认为，由于这种与君主制的关联，总统不应出现在货币上，”切尔文斯基说。
"The House of Representatives said that the president should not be on currency because of this monarchical tie," Chervinsky said.
她指出，华盛顿本人也认同这种担忧。这位总统通常避免高调的自我宣传。“他不喜欢过于张扬，”她说。
Chervinsky said Washington shared their concerns. The president usually shied away from ostentatious self-celebration. "He didn't want a lot of fuss," she said.
但有时，华盛顿似乎也并不介意。“他们甚至在他仍在任期间，就将联邦城市命名为华盛顿，以向他致敬，”切尔文斯基说。但胡佛水坝又该如何解释呢？
But sometimes, Washington didn't seem to mind it. "They did name the federal city Washington to honor him while he was still in office," Chervinsky said. But what about the Hoover Dam?
自那以后，大多数政府通常都会避免在公共资产上使用现任总统的名字和肖像，认为这样做有失体面。
Most administrations have generally kept the names and faces of sitting presidents off public assets since then, viewing it as unseemly.
在少数出现现任总统名字的情况下——例如以泰迪·罗斯福、卡尔文·库利奇和伍德罗·威尔逊命名的水坝——往往并非总统本人推动此举。“通常是政治支持者所为，”切尔文斯基说。而这一命名过程背后的历史也常常充满争议。其中最著名的例子就是胡佛水坝。
On the few occasions when a sitting president's name has appeared — such as on dams named for Teddy Roosevelt Calvin Coolidge Woodrow Wilson— it tended not to be the man in office pushing for it himself. "Usually it is political supporters," Chervinsky said. And the history around the naming process can be fraught. The most prominent example of this is the Hoover Dam.
位于亚利桑那州和内华达州边境的胡佛水坝，最初被称为博尔德水坝。
The Hoover Dam on the Arizona-Nevada border was originally known as the Boulder Dam.
基斯通/哈顿档案馆/盖蒂图片社 位于亚利桑那州和内华达州边境的博尔德峡谷附近的大型公共工程，在开发初期被称为博尔德水坝。1930年，胡佛的内政部长雷·莱曼·威尔伯建议将该项目更名为胡佛水坝，以表彰胡佛在规划过程中所发挥的关键作用。“胡佛促成了各州之间被称为‘科罗拉多河协定’的协议，该协定将河水资源分配给了七个州，”《胡佛：非凡时代中的非凡人生》一书的作者肯尼斯·怀特说道，“因此，大家普遍认为他配得上这个名称。”
Keystone/Hulton Archives/Getty Images The massive public works project located near the Boulder Canyon on the Arizona-Nevada border had been known in the early stages of its development as the Boulder Dam Hoover's secretary of the interior, Ray Lyman Wilbur, suggested rechristening the project in 1930 as the Hoover Dam, owing to the lead role Hoover had played in its planning. "Hoover negotiated the deal among the states known as the Colorado River Compact that allocated the river's water among seven states," said Kenneth Whyte, author of Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times "So it was generally agreed that it was deserved."
显然，总统本人也这么认为。“我认为胡佛对此感到满意，”怀特说，“但当时他并没有过多谈论这件事。他不想被人看作是在做自我吹捧的事情。”然而，富兰克林·D·罗斯福的政府却并不买账。1933年罗斯福就任总统后，他的内政部长哈罗德·伊克斯要求将水坝恢复为原来的名称。
Apparently, the president thought so too. "Hoover, I think, was pleased about it," said Whyte. "But he did not talk a lot about it at the time. He didn't want to be seen to be doing self-aggrandizing things." But the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration was having none of it. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, his secretary of the interior, Harold Ickes, called for the dam to revert to its original moniker.
“伊克斯提出这一主张的依据是，最初授权国会为该项目提供资金的法案名为《博尔德峡谷项目法案》，”马里斯特大学的戴维·沃尔纳说道。他是罗斯福研究所的高级研究员兼驻院历史学家，也是多本关于美国第32任总统的书籍作者。“而且他不喜欢赫伯特·胡佛的政治影响。”
"Ickes based this argument on the fact that the original legislation that authorized Congress to fund the project was called the Boulder Canyon Project Act," said Marist University's David Woolner, a senior fellow and resident historian at the Roosevelt Institute, and the author of several books about the 32nd U.S. president. "And he did not like the politics of Herbert Hoover."
沃尔纳表示，罗斯福并没有反对这一更名。他在1935年的命名典礼演讲中避开了这位政治对手的名字，始终称其为“博尔德水坝”。然而，这场命名上的胜利并未持续太久。
Woolner said Roosevelt did not object to the change. He kept his political rival's name out of his 1935 dedication speech, consistently referring to it as "Boulder Dam." The naming coup was short-lived.
尽管民主党人最初曾表示反对，但1947年，国会一致投票决定将其改回原名。伍尔纳表示，此举是“为了表彰胡佛对该项目的早期支持，以及这位前总统在一战和二战期间及战后的人道主义工作赢得了赞誉。”
Although there was some initial opposition from Democrats, in 1947, Congress voted unanimously to change the name back Woolner said this happened "in recognition of Hoover's early support for the project, and after the former president gained praise for his humanitarian work during and after the First and Second World Wars."
总统图书馆……或“图书馆”方面，罗斯福本人“并不特别渴望以自己的名字命名事物，”伍尔纳说。
There's always the presidential library ... or "library" Roosevelt, for his part, wasn't "particularly anxious to have things named after him," Woolner said.
但这并未阻止罗斯福在任期间将自己的名字冠名于一项重大项目——富兰克林·D·罗斯福总统图书馆暨博物馆——“这当然是他发起的，”伍尔纳说。
But that didn't stop Roosevelt from lending his name to one major project during his presidency — the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum— "which of course he initiated," said Woolner.
富兰克林·D·罗斯福总统的半身像矗立在纽约海德公园的富兰克林·D·罗斯福总统图书馆暨博物馆前。
The bust of President Franklin D. Roosevelt stands in front of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, N.Y.
Craig Ruttle/AP 秉承这一传统，特朗普总统今年早些时候在新闻发布会上告诉记者，他计划在迈阿密为自己建造一座总统图书馆。
Craig Ruttle/AP In keeping with this tradition, President Trump told reporters at a press briefing earlier this year he is planning to build himself a presidential library in Miami.
只不过它很可能不会是一座图书馆。从技术层面讲，总统图书馆属于公私合营资产。
Except it probably won't be a library. And presidential libraries are, technically speaking, public-private assets.
“我不信奉建设图书馆或博物馆，”特朗普说。“但这极有可能是一家酒店，拥有一座漂亮的建筑作为基座，大厅里摆放一架747‘空军一号’飞机。” 从总统社交媒体渠道发布的一则推广该项目的帖子来看，有一点似乎可以确定：特朗普的名字将醒目地展示在其外立面上。
"I don't believe in building libraries or museums," Trump said. "But it's most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby." One thing that seems certain, judging by a on the president's social media channel promoting the project: Trump's name will be prominently displayed on its facade.