‘Insane’: ‘MAGA Moron’ Florida GOP Congressman Introduces Bill to Rename D.C. Metro the ‘Trump Train’ or Risk Losing Millions in Federal Funding
A Florida congressman has introduced a bill that would rename Washington D.C.’s metro system the Trump Train and rebrand D.C.’s transit authority overall, as well.
This isn’t a joke, as funny as it may sound, and it’s just the latest attempt to glorify President Donald Trump by rebranding infrastructure and buildings.
Rep. Greg Steube’s measure, called the Make Autorail Great Again Act, after President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again campaign slogan, would block all federal funding to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, WMATA, until it also officially renames the transit system the Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access, or WMAGA.
Steube issued a statement, according to The Hill, contending the bill demanding the D.C. transit system name change is all about money and reducing federal costs.
“WMATA has received billions in federal assistance over the years and continues to face operational, safety, and fiscal challenges,” Steube said. “In the spirit of DOGE, this bill demands accountability by conditioning federal funding on reforms that signal a cultural shift away from bureaucratic stagnation toward public-facing excellence and patriotism.”
It’s no coincidence that the new acronym is similar to Trump’s MAGA campaign slogan and the term used to describe his supporters. And Republicans’ efforts to honor Trump through rebranding are not new.
After Trump lost the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, Steube, one and the same, introduced a bill that would have renamed the waters around the U.S. the “Donald John Trump Exclusive Economic Zone,” according to MSNBC. But that effort was dead in the water, with no chance of passing the Senate, which was held by the Democrats at that time.
And this isn’t the only GOP effort to venerate Trump. There are several bills on the table dealing with money. One would create a new $250 bill featuring Trump’s face, and another would replace Benjamin Franklin’s face on the $100 bill with Trump’s. Then there’s a bill that would make Trump’s birthday a federal holiday, another that would rename Dulles International Airport, and still another measure that would add Trump’s face to Mount Rushmore.
A recent New York Times story described it this way: “A competition of sorts has broken out for whom the Republican base will see as the most pro-Trump member.”
“The rush of flattering legislation, some of which even the lawmakers concede is unlikely to pass, stands apart from merely carrying out Mr. Trump’s agenda. … ‘It shows the power that Donald Trump has within the Republican Party these days, and that Republican members want to stay on his good side,” Sean M. Theriault, government professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told NYT
“A lot of these people are in really safe districts, but they’re also thinking about what their next step is. And so, if they have designs on being in the Senate or running for governor or even a position in the administration, then there’s no better way to get on his good side than to do these over-the-top moves toward him,” Theriault said.
Reaction on social media is as expected. One post on X shows a train crashing through a bridge into the water.
Another X poster, responding to a Steube post about changing the name to “get rid of delays, dysfunction and decay,” wondered, “Who votes for these f*%$# morons anyway?”
A Trump supporter joked that the Democrats would boycott the rebranded train system, “Thereby keeping Democrats out of Washington. Sheer genius!”
Another post called Steube a “MAGA moron” for introducing the name change bill and still another called the idea “insane.”
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority says 600,000 customers use the transit system every day to travel around D.C., Virginia and Maryland. The system is the second busiest in the U.S., with 98 stations.