The Ronald Reagan Building’s irregular geometry and imposing architecture make it an ideal spot for staging dystopian speeches and rallies, echoing scenes from Evita and Nicolae Ceausescu’s authoritarian regimes. The Justice Department’s new banner, designed to maximize visibility along Pennsylvania Avenue, embodies a culture of surveillance, emphasizing the president’s omnipresence and shadowy influence over the nation.
The Trump administration’s relentless branding efforts have extended beyond buildings to season passes for National Park Service and coins in design, further eroding democratic values. The physical presence of the president’s name on institutions like the John F. Kennedy Center and the US Institute of Peace has transformed these spaces into instruments for personal vendettas and partisan vengeance.
As authoritarianism deepens, this trend sparks a mix of emotions – from outrage to reluctant acknowledgment of a new reality. The normalization of hagiographic leader worship in democratic societies is a disturbing development, echoing experiences in police states like Syria under Bashar al-Assad. As these images are displayed ubiquitously, their impact becomes normalized, making it difficult to distinguish between propaganda and reality.
The future trajectory of this trend remains uncertain, but the introduction of authoritarian symbolism in democratic spaces sets the stage for Act II – a period marked by unknown events that will determine the course of American democracy.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/02/20/trump-banner-justice-department-authoritarian