For years, Donald Trump has drawn parallels between his own arc and that of Abraham Lincoln.
He has argued that the press has treated him more harshly, suggested his record with Black Americans belongs in the same conversation, and even framed the Civil War as a lens through which he could explain what he might have done differently.
Now, as he fights to keep his name on a memorial dedicated to John F. Kennedy, his aides are reportedly weighing where else his name might appear.
Aides are allegedly circulating a list of government sites while his effort to rename the Kennedy Center remains in court.
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One site on that list is connected to the final moments of another president.
Ford’s Theatre, the venue where Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, has surfaced in those discussions, according to MS NOW. Reporters Brian Bennett, Laura Barrón-López and Jake Traylor were allegedly told by a single administration official that the idea had been discussed, though that official did not know its status.
Barrón-López described what her reporting team learned during a guest appearance on “On the Line with Alicia Menendez.”
“Sources told me, Brian Bennett and Jake Traylor, our colleagues here, that Ford’s Theatre — a venerable site, the theater where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 — has come up in discussions,” she stated. “It’s being considered for the president’s name to possibly be attached to it in some form.”
“We don’t know exactly what form that would take,” she added. “We also don’t know how far along these conversations necessarily are, but they are happening among top administration officials.”
Barrón-López noted that Ford’s Theatre was part of a broader search.
She explained, “There is also a circulating list with additional government sites that the administration is considering when it comes to attaching the president’s name to other buildings or places they think could bear it — potentially ones with fewer legal hurdles than, say, the Kennedy Center, which we know the president is still involved in litigating to have his name affixed to that site.”
On X, plenty weighed in, condemning the idea.
One post read, “He wants everything in his name. His picture is on new US passports and currency. And I don’t think there’s going to be an election.”
Another commented, “I’m always uncomfortable with naming buildings before someone has passed away. The naming or renaming of a building should be a solemn tribute by others, not a vanity project. Otherwise, it just becomes another reflecting pool for the narcissist.”
A third joked, “I highly doubt Trump understands the historical significance of Ford’s Theatre. He probably thinks it has something to do with Henry Ford.”
Enough of this nonsense. Get this man out of the White House.”
“Trump is a megalomaniac of the highest order,” another observer declared, while yet another added, “He thinks he is god.”
The White House dismissed the report as “completely false,” according to The Independent. The Interior Department echoed the denial. Officials have announced no proposal to place Trump’s name on Ford’s Theatre.
The president himself took to Truth Social to repudiate the claims: “The story that the White House, or me, want to affix my name to Ford’s Theatre, in Washington, D.C., where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, is a ridiculous lie. It is FAKE NEWS! Who would possibly want a name on such a tragic place? The Dumocrats suffer from serious Trump Derangement Syndrome. They are Degenerates and Losers who make up lie after lie, and this Ford’s Theatre Hoax is just another one of their never-ending, malicious falsehoods to try to discredit and demean. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The history surrounding that site makes the reported discussions especially charged.
John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln during a performance on April 14, 1865. Lincoln died the following morning at the Petersen House across the street. Both buildings are part of a National Park Service historic site whose name is fixed by federal law.
A formal renaming would likely require action from Congress.
Trump has repeatedly returned to Lincoln as a point of comparison throughout his political career.
In March 2017, Mashable reported he noted that many people did not realize Lincoln was a Republican.
He made a similar remark at a May 2020 town hall at the Lincoln Memorial, claiming the press had treated him worse than Lincoln. Later that year, he described Lincoln as “a man that I’ve always competed against.”
At a 2020 presidential debate, Trump asserted that no president had done more for Black Americans than he had, aside possibly from Lincoln, according to NPR.
He narrowed that exception during an April 2024 stop in Atlanta: “Maybe including Abraham Lincoln, frankly.”
In January 2024, he suggested the Civil War might have been negotiated; he revisited questions about Lincoln’s handling of the conflict in an October interview with Joe Rogan.
The Ford’s Theatre item followed Trump’s bid to have his name affixed to the Kennedy Center, which was established by Congress as a memorial to John F. Kennedy.
Trump has also pictured himself alongside Lincoln in other contexts.
In July, he circulated imagery placing his face beside the four presidents carved on Mount Rushmore. Similar depictions appeared on cookies aboard Air Force One.
Trump’s likeness now appears on a 2026 dollar coin. The former real estate magnate has leveraged his influence to align himself with other presidents who are depicted on American currency.
At Ford’s Theatre, the question is more pointed: why would a site dedicated to recounting the story of Lincoln’s death require Trump’s name on it?
🔴 President Trump refuted claims that he wants his name on Ford’s Theatre, calling it a tragic place and attributing the rumors to “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Monitor the latest political narratives with https://t.co/ywukcUW9tj, filtering out noise to catch what truly…— Open Source Intelligence (@osint42) September 24, 2026
