A large banner featuring a photo of President Donald Trump has been affixed to the exterior of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) building in Washington, D.C., next to a photo banner of President Abraham Lincoln, who established the department in 1862 and appointed American agriculturalist Isaac Newton as its first commissioner.
Note: In February, the Trump administration fired multiple probationary employees at the USDA, including researchers dedicated to using science to protect the nation’s food supply. In March, the administration cut about $1 billion in USDA funding to schools and food banks to buy food directly from local farms, ranchers and producers.
Oralè Resisters
— Ruben Garcia (@goRubenRuben) May 15, 2025
Trump Tacky DC Banners:
DC Government Buildings are
Putting Up Giant Banners of
Donald Trump! #SovietTrump #TrumpTackyBanners #USDemocracy pic.twitter.com/iFP3rSSxVo
Joshua Reed Eakle, executive director of the nonprofit organization Project Liberal, responded to the new banner on X by writing: “New posters are going up across D.C. today. MAGA isn’t simply a political movement. It’s a cultural project aimed at transforming the American spirit—a rebellious and anti-authority spirit—into one that celebrates autocracy and oppression.”
As seen below, Eakle added a photo of a banner of Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, next to the Trump banner, and asserted: “They’re legitimately trying to turn America into North Korea.”
New posters are going up across D.C. today.
— Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 (@JoshEakle) May 15, 2025
MAGA isn't simply a political movement.
It's a cultural project aimed at transforming the American spirit—a rebellious and anti-authority spirit—into one that celebrates autocracy and oppression.
They're legitimately trying to turn… pic.twitter.com/QX4bQdcpCp
Eakle isn’t the only one making such comparisons. Economics Professor Roman Sheremeta, founding rector of American University Kyiv, also replied, “The new posters of Trump across Washington D.C. remind me of the Soviet Union and other authoritarian countries.”
Many MAGA supporters are responding to Eakle by voicing their support of the new Trump banners on federal buildings. As one replied: “So we can’t be proud of our country and President? Over the last two decades the word ‘pride’ was twisted and changed into some fairytale lifestyle. It’s time we go back to taking PRIDE in our country and its leadership.” Another chimed in saying, “It’s better than rainbow flags.”
