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Before he ever ran for office, President Trump was known for branding, putting his name on almost anything you could imagine: buildings, steaks, vodka.
But in his second term, that has extended to the government.
There are now two buildings in Washington, D.C. named after him. And Trump's face looms large on banners outside three different federal agency buildings, including the Justice Department. Trump's face adorns national park passes and proposed coins to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary.
Then there's TrumpRX, the Trump Gold Card and Trump Accounts, all government programs that prominently display the president's name and in the case of the gold card, also his face and signature.
"We are living through the building of a personality cult to Donald Trump," said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at NYU and author of Strongmen, Mussolini to the Present.
Frequently, Trump claims he had nothing to do with the naming, as he did during his State of the Union address.
"Nobody believes me, but I did not name it," Trump said of the Trump Accounts.
Later in the speech when talking about TrumpRX, he again denied responsibility.
"And I didn't name that either, by the way," Trump said.
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Trump's denials at times stretch credulity. Take the Kennedy Center, a Washington, D.C. performing arts center designated by Congress as a living memorial to the late President John F. Kennedy. Trump feigned surprise when a board he chairs, that is dominated by his appointees voted to rename the center after him. Weeks earlier, though, Trump had joked about that very outcome.
"And you have a big event on Friday at the Trump-Kennedy Center -- excuse me, at the Kennedy Center," Trump said to laughter. "Pardon me, such a terrible mistake."
The name change is being challenged in court.
The Trump Gold Card is an immigration program where wealthy would-be immigrants can pay $1 million for a fast-tracked path to permanent residency in the U.S.
At a White House event, Trump insisted someone else came up with the idea of naming it after him.
"Somebody said, 'can we call it the Trump gold card,'" Trump said, adding that he told them "if it helps, use the name Trump. I'll give it to you for free."
It has a picture of his face on it. There is also a Trump Platinum Card coming soon, according to the website, Trumpcard.gov, which costs $5 million and provides other perks.
In addition to his name being added to the Kennedy Center, the president's name was also added to the U.S. Institute of Peace. The building's exterior now declares it to be the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.
"I had nothing to do with it," Trump said about the change. "I swear I didn't. I had no idea."
Trump has also suggested New York's Penn Station be re-named Trump Station, and maybe Dulles International Airport too. He said many people had suggested it to him.
Already in Florida there's a President Donald J. Trump Boulevard and the state legislature recently voted to name Palm Beach International Airport after Trump.
Typically presidents are out of office or even dead before they are honored in this way. Former president Joe Biden had a rest area in Delaware named after him, but it happened after he was out of office (the Biden train station naming happened when he was vice president but after decades as Amtrak's biggest fan in the U.S. Senate). "Obamacare" was not the official name of the Affordable Care Act, but instead an insult hurled by former president Barack Obama's Republican opponents.
"Presidents in our Democratic republic usually want to present themselves as men of the people," said Barbara Perry, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, which studies the American presidency.
It gets to the nation's founding as a rejection of the monarchy. The American presidency was meant to be more modest. The White House purposely wasn't modeled after the gilded palaces of Europe. The United States was to be a nation of laws not men.
But like so many things in the Trump-era, Perry says this is another norm Trump has blown past.
"Most presidents don't want to look arrogant or pompous or totally self-centered because they haven't thought that was a good political approach," said Perry.
A recent CNN poll found 68% of U.S. adults said the president "hasn't paid enough attention to the country's most important problems." In the Democratic response to the State of the Union, Virginia Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger hit Trump on this issue.
"Cozying up to foreign princes for airplanes and billionaires for ballrooms, putting his name and face on buildings all over our nation's capital, this is not what our founders envisioned, not by a long shot," said Spanberger during her televised remarks.
Ben-Ghiat, author of the book Strongmen, says what Trump is doing mirrors what autocrats around the world have done for a century.
"That the leader must be everywhere, his face must be everywhere, his name must be everywhere, and his aesthetic, his taste must be reflected in buildings, in the people around him," said Ben-Ghiat. "The autocrat wants to remake the world in his own image."
Asked for comment, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said "President Trump is focused on saving our country – not garnering recognition."
"However, given his vast accomplishments, including signing the largest tax cut in history, securing the border, restoring peace through strength, and more, it is natural that local officials want to recognize the President's incredible work on behalf of the American people."
Asked to clarify how this applies to all the federal buildings and programs that have been named after him, she didn't respond.
Trump himself, back in 1999 was asked by CNN's Larry King about his notorious ego. Trump said he simply puts his name on buildings because it sells better.
King asked if there will be a "Trump White House" and Trump pledged, "I will not rename the White House."
He didn't say anything about a ballroom.
Additional reporting by Saige Miller.
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