Trump banner on gov building sparks backlash: 'Welcome to North America's North Korea'
Source: Raw Story
May 15, 2025 2:33PM ET
A massive banner of President Donald Trump is now hanging from the outside of the U.S. Department of Agricultures building in Washington, D.C., opposite a banner of President Abraham Lincoln. Several critics are suggesting the hanging is fascist or authoritarian, with some saying it is giving off North Korea vibes.
Looming down from the pillared front of the neo-classical facade is an enormous, brooding picture of President Donald Trump, adapted from his official presidential portrait, The Independent reported. The picture of Trump is reminiscent of portraits of leaders hanging from public buildings, often seen in dictatorships, monarchies, and in descriptions in George Orwells 1984 of Big Brother.'
Progressive nonprofit People For the American Way posted a photo of the USDA building with the Trump banner, also saying it is echoing authoritarian dictatorships. This is deeply fascist, observed Democracy advocate, Army combat vet, and podcaster Fred Wellman. Trump is spending $92 million on a birthday military parade and plastering his face on the sides of government buildings. Washington, DC is becoming Pyongyang, North Korea, podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen noted.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins posted photos of the banners being installed, while suggesting that President Trumps policies have been good for farmers a controversial opinion given his tariff and trade wars, and program cuts. The Bulwarks Tim Miller wrote: Its interesting that these freedom loving MAGA alpha males want to institute this deeply creepy 3rd world culture where we have a national daddy that must be obeyed. Political analyst Rachel Bitecofer warned Trump is going to go full Putin.
Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/trump-banner/

Large banners installed on the facade of the U.S. Department of Agriculture show President Donald Trump and President Abraham Lincoln
Eric Garcia/The Independent
choie
(6,879 posts)n/t
magicarpet
(18,469 posts)..... so we can hail Fuhrer trDUMP during his birthday military parade ?
Response to choie (Reply #1)
bluboid This message was self-deleted by its author.
Bayard
(29,398 posts)Haven't heard much about that love affair lately.
Walleye
(44,519 posts)BadgerMom
(3,413 posts)Norrrm
(4,773 posts)Today's official republican position - Lincoln was our nation's greatest leader
From the 2004 GOP Platform - (I have not seen them change it.)
"One hundred and fifty years ago, Americans who had gathered to
protest the expansion of slavery gave birth to a political Party that
would save the Union - the Republican Party.
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln of Illinois carried the Republican banner
in the Presidential election and was elected the Party's first
President. He became our nation's greatest leader
and one of our
Party's greatest heroes.
yorkster
(3,781 posts)Where's a flaming arrow when you need it..
What a damn joke.
jls4561
(3,056 posts)This taxpayer wants to know.
ZDU
(1,199 posts)highplainsdem
(61,539 posts)mdbl
(8,552 posts)ancianita
(43,256 posts)lastlib
(28,064 posts)Tempting to use it for target practice.........
JoseBalow
(9,421 posts)Not even pretending anymore.
ancianita
(43,256 posts)He's never been pretending. He said it. He's doing it. He's the US dictator.
We live under this dark death dealing tyranny every damn day.
Justice matters.
(9,687 posts)I guess he wants to copy his "some good things" while causing millions of children starve to death.
twodogsbarking
(18,402 posts)William Seger
(12,395 posts)twodogsbarking
(18,402 posts)tonekat
(2,513 posts)Maybe that artist who projected images on the Old Post Office can do something with this?
Nigrum Cattus
(1,282 posts)FakeNoose
(41,234 posts)The banners on the USDA building do not say that. Some political pundits were quoted making sarcastic comments, including the one about North Korea.
From the OP story:
Political analyst Rachel Bitecofer warned Trump is going to go full Putin.
Welcome to North Americas North Korea! exclaimed Russell Drew, a self-described amateur historian and political junkie.
BumRushDaShow
(168,663 posts)which was purportedly posted by them around 8 pm ET last night. But since I keep over 3 dozen news sites in tabs including them, and check the sites continually while I'm online, I never saw it "featured" or linked to on The Independent's subject category pages, nor on their main page. By the time I found it, it was obviously beyond the 12-hour LBN threshehold. Raw Story did have it, summarized it, and linked to it (and included social media stuff).
You can "pick your poison" when it comes to "headlines".
littlemissmartypants
(32,810 posts)LBN would probably collapse in on itself without you.
❤️
kacekwl
(9,091 posts)Top dollar for every egg you can sell me. Rotten if possible
littlemissmartypants
(32,810 posts)liberalgunwilltravel
(1,182 posts)The Swastikas flags and banners.
yellow dahlia
(5,586 posts)LudwigPastorius
(14,582 posts)BidenRocks
(3,161 posts)Now I am constantly angry. I am shouting at the radio and TV.
There is no escape from that ugly ass face and irritating voice.
This is truly some scary shit!
It's time to re-watch the original "V" miniseries.
The banners were up in no time.
Ukraine, if your listening. Could we borrow a small fire breathing drone?
BumRushDaShow
(168,663 posts)and when NBC rebroadcast "V" (and its sequel), I recorded them and I still have them on VHS (in a cabinet in the basement).
dem4decades
(13,968 posts)littlemissmartypants
(32,810 posts)Karasu
(2,003 posts)SunSeeker
(58,179 posts)Hekate
(100,133 posts)No Democrat would
SunSeeker
(58,179 posts)AllaN01Bear
(29,223 posts)Hekate
(100,133 posts)
when we first saw the photo.
It takes a pretty sick mind to think this and the Dear Leader Parade are acceptable.
kimbutgar
(27,167 posts)Dont want to see that ugly, hideous, and evil face defecating on our nations capitol!
moonshinegnomie
(3,996 posts)
BumRushDaShow
(168,663 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(178,604 posts)The display doesnt show a commanding figure; it shows a flailing politician pretending to convey strength.
Weâre apparently supposed to see Trump's fascistic DOJ banner and hear the implicit questions: âDonât I appear imposing? Isnât it clear how powerful I am?â
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-20T20:40:06.281Z
The answer, however, is âno.â
The banner doesnât signal strength â it reflects desperation.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/the-inadvertent-truth-exposed-by-the-justice-departments-creepy-new-trump-banner
A large banner with Donald Trumps face was hung on the front of the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., the presidents latest effort to imprint his personal brand on the nations capital.
Observers spotted the lengthy blue banner featuring Trumps face sandwiched between two pillars on the buildings exterior on Thursday. The banner, which also includes the DOJ seal, states, Make America Safe Again, and adorns the front entrance of a department that Democrats say has been weaponized by Trump.
In a written statement, Trumps DOJ acknowledged the developments, saying: We are proud at this Department of Justice to celebrate 250 years of our great country and our historic work to make America safe again at President Trumps direction.
Photo:
— Ryan J. Reilly âpaints a vivid and urgent portrait of⦠disarrayâ (@ryanjreilly.com) 2026-02-19T20:37:47.353Z
.....Indeed, the banner was helpful in removing a pretense that no one took seriously anyway. The DOJs official statement was explicit and unambiguous: The department works at Trumps direction as opposed to the direction of the attorney general, whos supposed to lead federal law enforcement.
But Im also reminded of a column written by the Times Jamelle Bouie in August:
The administration-produced imagery in Washington is, then, a projection of sorts a representation of what the president wants reality to be, drawn from its idea of what authoritarianism looks like. The banners and the troops not to mention the strangely sycophantic cabinet meetings and news conferences are a secondhand reproduction of the strongman aesthetic of other strongman states. It is as if the administration is building a simulacrum of authoritarianism, albeit one meant to bring the real thing into being. No, the United States is not a totalitarian state led by a sovereign Donald Trump a continental Trump Organization backed by the worlds largest nuclear arsenal but his favored imagery reflects his desire to live in this fantasy.
Six months later, Bouies observation still resonates. The DOJ banner doesnt signal Trumps strength it reflects his desperation.
A failing president wants to convey authority, so he and his team scramble to impose symbols like these on the public. They appear intended to convey questions Trump seems reluctant to ask out loud: Dont I appear imposing? Isnt it clear how powerful I am? Shouldnt my opponents feel an overwhelming sense of fear?
The answer to the questions, however, is no. In fact, members of Team Trump have it backward: By trying too hard, their posturing delivers the opposite of the intended message.
The Justice Departments banner, in other words, doesnt show a commanding figure; it shows a flailing politician pretending to convey confidence and strength.