House Republican wants to re-name the U.S. coastline after Trump

Florida Rep. Greg Steube will introduce the bill to re-name the economic zone in Trump's honor on his 78th birthday

By Griffin Eckstein

News Fellow

Published June 13, 2024 8:45PM (EDT)

Supporters of Former President Donald Trump participate in the "Nation's Capital Trumptilla Boat Parade" on the Potomac River on September 6, 2020, in Washington, DC.  (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)
Supporters of Former President Donald Trump participate in the "Nation's Capital Trumptilla Boat Parade" on the Potomac River on September 6, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

The House GOP plans to vote to rename the entire coastline surrounding the United States to the “Donald John Trump Exclusive Economic Zone.”

Republicans in the House, already doing the Trump campaign’s bidding by using the force of the chamber to attack the Biden administration, are working on a new way to idolize the former president, who visited Capitol Hill for the first time since the January 6th attack this Thursday.

Rep. Greg Steube, who represents Florida voters miles away from Donald Trump’s Palm Beach home, plans to introduce his bill to re-name the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone on official documents, maps, and laws, to honor Trump on Friday, his 78th birthday. The move comes as critics draw comparisons between Trump and other cults of personality.

Though the connection between Trump and the nation’s coastline isn’t immediately obvious, he seemingly demonstrated how much thought he puts into our ocean at a Sunday rally in the famously land-locked Las Vegas, when he broke into a multiple-minute manic monologue, musing on shark attacks and sinking batteries.

Steube, who once used a hearing on mass shootings as an opportunity to share his gun collection, took to X to explain his bill.

“President Trump took several commendable actions for our oceans,” he wrote. “Renaming our waters will serve as a reminder of his many contributions to our nation for generations to come.

The bill comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson seeks to align himself more closely with the former president after far-right representatives attempted to oust him last month. Earlier on Thursday, Johnson bragged at a press conference about Trump’s alleged approval of his job handling, telling reporters that Trump “said I'm doing a very good job.”

Simultaneously, Trump has reportedly sought the House GOP leader’s help to remedy his legal woes, asking him to help overturn his 34-count criminal conviction in New York for falsifying business records to hide hush money payments.


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