Image: watson/keystone/imago
analysis
The US President’s sick mania for sticking his name everywhere shows only one thing: his lousy character.
Feb 12, 2026, 7:26 p.mFeb 12, 2026, 7:26 p.m
An important bridge between the American city of Detroit and the Canadian city of Windsor was supposed to be opened in the next few weeks. It will massively ease the movement of goods between the USA and Canada and thus forms an important element in trade between the two nations.
The bridge should be opened, but perhaps it won’t be, because Donald Trump has vetoed it on the grounds that Canada must first put its new trade agreements with China on hold, and that the USA was also duped when it came to financing this bridge.
The Gordie Howe Bridge under construction.Image: keystone
Of course, this is fake nonsense. When it was decided to build this bridge in 2017, Trump was an enthusiastic supporter. The fact that the US President is starting another dispute with his northern neighbor probably has other reasons, for example a further distraction from the Epstein files, which still hang over the White House like the sword of Damocles.
However, Trump’s pathological narcissism is probably the cause once again. The solution would therefore be simple: the bridge, which is named after the legendary hockey player Gordie Howe, simply needs to be renamed the Trump Bridge. With this simple measure the conflict disappears into thin air.
What sounds so ridiculous has become a bitter reality in the Trump era. The president actually works that way. He also froze funds for a tunnel between New York and the state of New Jersey, also an important infrastructure project.
However, in a conversation with Chuck Schumer, one of the two senators from New York State, he indicated that he would release the funds if Penn Station, the legendary train station in Manhattan, was renamed Trump Station. And yes, at the same time you could rename Dulles Airport in Washington – where international flights take off and land – to Trump Airport. After all, the airport for domestic flights is already called Reagan Airport.
The historic Penn Station building in Manhattan.Image: Wikimedia
For a long time, Trump was content to attach his name to hotels and properties. However, like a dog marking every street lamp, in his second term he is trying to put his signature on everything and anything.
The Kennedy Center got some of it, as did a peace institute that he originally wanted to close. Trump is also pushing for the Washington Commanders’ stadium to be named after him. A monumental ballroom is to replace the east wing of the White House and consolidate its fame for all time, as is a huge triumphal arch on the Potomac River, which the president wants to have built based on the model of Paris on the occasion of the 250th anniversary.
“His goal, as long as he has the opportunity, is to force his way into the everyday life of an ungrateful nation, even – or especially – in places that don’t have much use for him,” writes Michelle Cottle in the New York Times.
Trump’s narcissistic labeling madness is the clearest symbol of the change currently taking place in the USA: North America is transforming into a plutocracy, a society dominated by a moneyed aristocracy. According to various sources, the Trump family alone raked in more than four billion dollars in 2025, not counting smaller gifts such as a $480 million jet from Qatar.
In general, it is becoming clear what is called a K-economy, which means: the gap between the very rich and the middle class is constantly widening. The Wall Street Journal recently stated:
«A fundamental characteristic of the current economy is that the profits go disproportionately to capital and not to labor. Since the pandemic, profits have exploded, and those active in the financial markets have benefited even more. The result is that companies, shareholders and superstar employees triumph, while the average worker is left with only crumbs.
Is the USA on the way to a kleptocracy based on the Russian model? Is this the secret to Trump’s enigmatic sympathy for Vladimir Putin? Anyway, it’s not that far yet. Gideon Rachman notes in the Financial Times that resistance is growing against Trump’s unjustifiable behavior, both internationally and at home. “This resistance could gain momentum – and even end in a rejection of the MAGA movement,” said Rachman.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Davos.Image: keystone
In view of this growing resistance, Mark Carney’s thesis, which he presented in his speech at the WEF in Davos, does not have to be the last word. The Canadian Prime Minister has proclaimed that the liberal world order under US leadership has finally collapsed. Rachman counters this with the thesis: “The growing resistance to Trump increases the chances that his presidency will ultimately prove to be a grotesque aberration – and not a final paradigm shift.”
If Rachman is proven right, then we can also take Trump’s monument madness calmly. Once he finally leaves the White House, the inscriptions will disappear again and possibly the monuments too. The same thing could happen to them as to the statues of Stalin, Hussein and Assad: they will be toppled by happy people and dragged through the streets.
Trump’s monuments then become memorials. Or as Gal Beckerman writes in the Atlantic: “The most effective way to underscore the unprecedented self-service of the Trump administration is always through moments that show that the abnormality is abhorrent and undeniable.”