Aubrey Chan

The 45th and 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump, is on a spree to deepen his legacy upon the nation by renaming holidays and landmarks, and even discontinuing the penny.
President Trump has officially ordered the discontinuation of the penny, the 1¢ coin of copper. The reasoning behind this is purely about finances and production.
According to the The New York Times, the profit per penny is about -2.7¢ for each of the about 3.172 million produced, bringing in an annual loss of $85 million. Ideally, these funds would be re-purposed to more pressing needs.
“That makes sense then,” sophomore Yaqoob Rahmani said. “Just stop making them.”
Continuing down this path would lead to a higher demand for the other coins, but also may shift away from physical money and toward online banking. This would shun the penny, leading to this happening to other coins as well.
Tax rounding policy updates currently are supposed to round to the nearest cent, but this might have to change due to the retirement of the penny. This change might not be long term, as the next president after Trump could reinstate the penny.
Trump has also talked about renaming physical locations in the world, and already started less than a month into his presidency when he renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Feb. 9.
The change is already reflected on Google Maps.
Since the area is a body of water, there doesn’t appear to be any cost to renaming it. But the true effectiveness of the name change is how other countries refer to the area.
The effect is lessened by Google Maps’ method of displaying both names of an area, for example the dual naming of the Sea of Japan, while also showing the East Sea.
President Trump isn’t stopping here. According to The New Republic, places such as Greenland, the Washington Dulles International Airport, and Spruce Knob, which is the highest ridge in West Virginia, are all on the renaming wishlist.
For Greenland, Trump wants to rename the country to “Red, White and Blueland,” a strong reiteration of “Manifest Destiny.” It was a popular plan back in the early stages of the United States, where the Founding Fathers assembled all the states and united them together through acquisitions.
He doesn’t just want to rename Greenland but he want to annex the autonomous territory that’s part of Denmark. While this is a patriotic gesture, it will cost a pretty penny, between $12.5 billion to $77 billion. Greenland contains 39 out of the 50 minerals that Trump argues is essential for the United States’ economic stability, as well as national security. So this adds some form of asset gain that the United States would benefit from.
He had also talked about other outlandish changes such as the addition of Canada to the United States, making it the 51st state.
While first seen as a joke by at-the-time Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the talks of annexation by Trump have been seen as serious.
But to put that into action President Trump needs congressional approval with a minimum of 60 votes in the 100 member chamber.
Canadians are pushing back on this concept, mainly voiced by resounding boos at the United States’ national anthem at NBA and NHL games.
Trump and former Prime Minister Trudeau, had formerly met and had engaged in talks about tariffs, boundaries, sharing lakes and rivers, and annexation. Trump talked about enforcing tariffs on Canada, but back in February, Trudeau pushed the tariffs back for one month. Trump also talked about sharing important rivers and lakes, which was something he talked about in the past. He also mentioned during those meetings that the boundary between the two was unclear and that he wanted to revise the border. But when asked about whether he would annex Canada using military force, President Trump talked about using economic force instead.
President Trump has also talked about reclaiming the Panama Canal.
According to CNN, President Trump falsely claimed the canal was under China’s control. While facing extensive resistance from Panama, President Trump’s expansionist agenda may continue, claiming the Panama Canal along with it.
President Trump also talked about renaming the Washington Dulles International Airport to the Donald J. Trump International Airport.
Spruce Knob in West Virginia isn’t safe either. President Trump proposed the 4,863 foot peak to be renamed as Trump Mountain.
Trump’s actions in West Virginia aren’t completely out of the blue because West Virginia stood by and supported him during all three elections in 2016, 2020, and 2024.
“I think he’s [President Trump] doing way too much,” sophomore Armann Dhindsa said. “It just makes no sense to be doing it right now. There’s a lot more important matters right now.”
Trump’s legacy can be cemented even more if he follows through with the proposal to add his face to Mount Rushmore. This is supported by Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who posted to X “Let’s get carving!” to reveal the proposed change.
Adding Trump to Mount Rushmore is akin to declaring him a Founding Father. To answer the question if President Trump is at the ‘founding father’ caliber, only time will tell.
If Trump has his way, the late President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901, could have his face replaced on the long discontinued $500 bill.
In addition, he also plans on changing the name of Mount Denali in Alaska to Mount McKinley.
All of these changes seem like a bit too much, but only time will tell over these next four years while Trump is in office.