The State Department said 250,000 Donald Trump commemorative passports will be available beginning Aug. 8, turning a document that was first limited to Washington, D.C., into a nationwide release. But the new passport will still be tied to in-person appointments, not an open online rollout.
The timing matters because applicants looking for the limited travel document now have a date to mark and a number to watch. The passport bears Trump’s signature and image, and the State Department said it will not replace the default U.S. passport while it is available.
For now, the path to one runs through the Washington Passport Agency in Washington, D.C., or through a 250th Anniversary commemorative passport application event at select passport offices. The State Department lists 28 passport offices across a handful of states that will host those events, including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minneapolis, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont and Washington, along with Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
That list is where the broad announcement meets the fine print. The release is being promoted as nationwide, yet access is still controlled by in-person appointments at selected offices and events, which means the number of passports that can actually be issued will depend on appointment capacity and the limits of the rollout.
The State Department said there will be additional opportunities to apply for a commemorative passport, but it has not said where or when those will be. For applicants, that leaves Aug. 8 as the first real chance to get one of the 250,000 copies now set aside, and it leaves the next phase of the rollout open.
