Donald Trump's Most Egotistical Endeavors Of His Second Term (So Far)

Many thought he couldn't possibly pull it off, but he did. On November 6, 2024, it was official: Donald Trump had won the presidential election — against all odds. The Hill called it "the greatest political comeback in history." The outlet wasn't wrong. Two impeachments and 34 felony convictions later, Trump was still standing, brandishing his 2023 mugshot like a trophy, which now hangs in a prime spot right outside the Oval Office, adorned with a thick golden frame; a middle finger to all those who attempted to thwart his second-term plans.

Donald Trump is many things — a businessman, a real estate tycoon, a politician, and, if you ask some people, the greatest con man of all time. What he is not is humble. His ego appeared to be irreparably bruised after former President Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 election. Trump's refusal to accept the election results is what ultimately led to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, which saw many of his former allies, including former Vice President Mike Pence, turning against him. Trump used his newfound underdog status to elevate himself. He cried foul when he was indicted, claiming the justice system was being weaponized against him. He plastered his mugshot on MAGA merchandise, put together a campaign team for 2024, survived an assassination attempt, and beat former Vice President Kamala Harris at the ballot box.

Did Trump earn his second term? Maybe. Is he the best man to sit behind the Resolute desk? Debatable. Trump has surrounded himself with sycophants — many of his cabinet members used to be Fox News anchors who sang his praises on TV and now do so within the halls of the White House. There are no guardrails, and as a result, Trump's ego has largely been running the country, for better or worse.

For someone who claims to want peace, Donald Trump sure likes to stir the pot, and he took to military action like a duck to water in his second term. It is therefore quite ironic that he founded his very own Board of Peace (of which he is the chairman, of course), in 2026. Trump asserted that this board was necessary because, according to him, the United Nations wasn't doing its job very well, even going so far as to suggest that his Board of Peace would be overseeing the organization (this isn't possible in reality, given that the U.N. isn't subjected to an oversight organization).

Trump invited over 60 world leaders to join his new board. Only 24 accepted the invitation — and shelled out the $1 billion required to join. Prominent U.S. allies like Canada, the U.K., Germany, and France turned up their noses at the president's latest venture, which Trump promised would "prove to be the most consequential International Body in History" in a post on Truth Social. The embarrassing first meeting of Trump's Board of Peace in February 2026 proved what his goal was all along — to inflate his insatiable ego even more.

Donald Trump's notorious Obama envy is alive and well during his second term, and it was never more prevalent than in his pursuit of the elusive Nobel Peace Prize. "If I were named Obama, I would have had the Nobel prize given to me in 10 seconds," he complained on the 2024 campaign trail, per The Guardian. During the first year of his second term, the president repeatedly claimed he had ended seven wars, likely trying to bring the point home to the Norwegian Nobel committee that there had never been a more worthy recipient. Trump technically didn't end seven wars; that number was an exaggeration, much like everything else that comes out of his mouth.

Trump was incredibly unhappy when the prize went to Venezuelan politician and activist María Corina Machado instead. When she presented Trump with her medal in an effort to be instated as her country's rightful president, a glowing Trump happily accepted it, regardless of the fact that the prize cannot be transferred to another individual.

Nothing says authoritarianism like trying to invade nearby countries with the sole purpose of improving your own country's military stronghold. Donald Trump had barely moved into the White House again before he started talking about annexing both Canada and Greenland. He bragged that Canada would become the 51st U.S. state, but was quickly shut down by former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who entertained no such fantasies.

"Frankly, Canada should be the 51st state, they really should. Because Canada relies entirely on the United States, we don't rely on Canada," Trump argued during an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" in April 2025, per Time.

Trump was also hellbent on annexing Greenland, citing international security as the main reason. He seemed to temporarily let that dream go, but it was revived in January 2026, when he set his sights on the icy island again, noting that he wasn't ruling out military force given that he hadn't been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize anyway.

Donald Trump's ballroom ego project has given many Americans a headache, along with the tackiest changes Trump has made to the Oval Office. The White House ballroom, which was initially set to cost $200 million, now stands, as of this writing, at an eye-watering $400 million, per USA Today. Trump has faced resistance from the public and the court alike, though he has managed to get past the latter. The president made headlines when he ordered that the historic East Wing be demolished to make room for the ballroom in October 2025, even though he initially insisted that the building would remain untouched.

The ballroom is an ode to Trump's ego. In fact, Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed the president told him, "Jesse, it's a monument. I'm building a monument to myself — because no one else will," per People. Then there's also the fact that the ballroom schematics bear an eerie resemblance to the ballroom at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. It's all gold gilding and gaudy gold decor, and Trump can't stop talking about it. At a medal of honor ceremony in March 2026, he brought up his ballroom even though it had no bearing on the event. Instead of solely focusing on the soldiers he was supposed to be honoring, the president boasted, "I believe it's going to be the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world," per Bluesky.

Forget the gilded Oval Office and the demolished East Wing. Donald Trump's latest ego project is bigger than anyone imagined (literally). The president floated the idea of the Independence Arch early into his second term. Trump plans for it to be a ginormous structure erected in celebration of the U.S. military's 250th anniversary, which gave him the perfect excuse to propose it be 250 feet tall (this is about the same height as a 16-20 story building). 

That would make it the second tallest monument in Washington after the Washington Monument, which stands at 555 feet. This is by design — Trump not only wants to make his mark on the skyline, but he wants his arch to be the most significant globally. "We're the biggest, most powerful nation, I'd like it to be the biggest one of all," he told curious reporters on Air Force One, per CNN.

The proposed arch brings with it a slew of issues. Not only will it impact historic views, but it also poses a risk to air traffic. A number of Vietnam War veterans have also voiced opposition and filed a lawsuit challenging the arch's construction, calling it a "vanity project," per NPR.

In what has arguably been Donald Trump's greatest egotistical venture yet, the president created a "Presidential Walk of Fame" leading up to the Oval Office. It consists of golden-framed photographs of former presidents (Joe Biden is named "The Autopen" and his spot on the wall lacks a headshot and instead features a photograph of an autopen), and, of course, two photographs of the commander-in-chief himself.

In December 2025, the "Presidential Walk of Fame" got a tacky upgrade in the form of golden plaques. These were clearly written by the president — they resemble the posts on his Truth Social account, with randomly capitalized letters, the overuse of all caps, and scathing nicknames. Unsurprisingly, some of the information on the plaques isn't factually correct (much like so many of Trump's social media posts). Some netizens commented on how embarrassing the whole installment was, with one penning on X, "Trump is so juvenile. Because he's so insecure."

Late night TV hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel dominated headlines in 2025, thanks to Donald Trump publicly hating on them. It's no secret that the president detests anyone who doesn't bow and worship at his feet, and Colbert and Kimmel are repeat offenders.

When news broke in July 2025 that Colbert's show would not be renewed by CBS, Trump practically jumped up and down with joy. He sprinted to Truth Social to celebrate loudly. "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired," the president penned. "His talent was even less than his ratings." He then added ominously, "I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next." As it turned out, Kimmel was next.

In September 2025, Kimmel was indefinitely suspended by ABC after he commented on how Trump didn't appear to be all that torn up about his friend and staunch supporter Charlie Kirk's death. He referenced the president's preference to talk about the construction of the White House ballroom instead. Trump didn't like this, and when Kimmel was suspended, the president happily took to Truth Social to celebrate. "Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done," he wrote. Kimmel was back on the air less than a week after the suspension was announced, but needless to say, Trump's Jimmy Kimmel drama proved he has the most fragile ego in presidential history.

Donald Trump wasted no time declaring himself royalty as soon as his second term commenced. While he has scorned allegations that he has a dictatorial nature, he's also been the one fanning the flames of that assertion. In February 2025, Trump took to Truth Social to celebrate putting a pin in New York's new congestion pricing program, writing, "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!" The post was accompanied by a graphic of Trump wearing a crown and it was reposted by the White House's official X account.

Trump has certainly acted the part of a king. He's done whatever he wants, whenever he wants, pushing the boundaries of the law and seeing how far they will stretch. "He who saves his Country does not violate any Law," he ominously penned on Truth Social in 2025, per The New York Times. His antics eventually led to widespread No Kings protests in June 2025, to which the president responded with an AI-generated video of himself in a fighter jet, wearing a crown, and dropping feces on the protesting masses below.

Donald Trump's Kennedy Center rebrand cost the venue more than just its reputation, and for good reason. Trump systematically did away with previous board members, specifically those who had been appointed by Democrats, ensuring that his loyalists outnumbered those who didn't want to see him have anything to do with the center. He was subsequently voted in as the center's chairman in February 2025. Trump insisted the vote was unanimous in a Truth Social post, but a source told CNN that this was hardly the case.

Trump would later tell reporters, "So we took over the Kennedy Center. We didn't like what they were showing and various other things. I'm going to be chairman of it, and we're going to make sure that it's good and it's not going to be woke," per CNN. As the chairman presiding over a board consisting of mostly loyal subjects, the president also managed to rename the center after himself in December 2025. He kept Kennedy's name, but made sure his preceded the former president's on the wall.

In February 2026, Trump announced that extensive renovations would be made to the center and that it would therefore be closed for the next two years. This conveniently saved him from the embarrassment of having to deal with the fact that few artists are willing to perform there now that his name is on the wall.

It so happened that the United States' Army's 250th anniversary fell on the same day as Donald Trump's 79th birthday, and the president made sure to capitalize on it, basically turning it into a birthday parade. Festivities were planned for the anniversary before Trump retook office, but it wasn't nearly as grandiose as the event ended up being. For instance, there was no parade penciled into the original program — that was all Trump's doing. Word is he's wanted a parade like this since first taking office. In 2025, he finally made his dreams come true.

Aside from the almost 7,000 soldiers who participated in the event, Trump also had a group of 250 "special guests" (that's what their badges said) to serenade him with "Happy Birthday." Quaint. There were fireworks (which he seemingly slept through), aerial demonstrations, and, of course, a speech from the commander-in-chief himself. All the revelry blew up the initial budget by tens of millions of dollars. Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel wasted no time roasting Trump's birthday parade on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," calling it "his much anticipated stupid sweet 16 disguised as a tribute to the U.S. Army."

Why stop at putting your name on buildings when you can put it on currency too? Donald Trump is desperate to leave a lasting mark on the country, and one of his ventures to achieve this goal includes putting his face on $1 coins — an unprecedented move for a U.S. president. As fate would have it, the Declaration of Independence's 250th anniversary is coming up in 2026, and Trump has seized the opportunity to put his likeness on the $1 coin that will be commemorating this anniversary. While this venture is not against the law, it does go against the decades-old tradition that a living president is not represented on U.S. currency.

The idea seemed laughable when it was first announced, and U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach took to X to assure everyone that, indeed, putting Trump on the coin was the plan. "No fake news here. These first drafts honoring America's 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real," he penned. 

One side of the coin's initial design shows Trump's side profile, with the back showing him fist-pumping the air after surviving the 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. While Trump can legally put his face on the front of the commemorative coin, he technically can't put it on the back. There is a law pertaining to the anniversary coin that states a living person is not allowed to grace its reverse. We won't put it past Trump to try.

Donald Trump's trade war has miffed many countries — and with good reason. In April 2025, Trump announced "Liberation Day," touting it as a new dawn for the country as he imposed tariffs on every country he could possibly think of. Not even a remote island inhabited only by penguins was safe. The stock market took a nose dive, dropping by almost $3 trillion. Not even Wall Street thought the president would do something as ludicrous as blowing up decades of global trade. But Trump is nothing if not predictable in his unpredictability. Trump hailed tariffs as the golden ticket that would fuel the American economy, but one could argue that the real reason behind the trade war was Trump's ego. He had the power to impose them, so he did.

The president's obsession with tariffs didn't wane as his term continued. On the contrary, he revived the venture in 2026 after the Supreme Court ruled that his 2025 tariffs were, in fact, illegal. The president proceeded to announce a 10% global tariff rate. Several states have filed lawsuits to block it.

No, Donald Trump can't run for a third term in 2028; the U.S. Constitution forbids it. But that doesn't necessarily mean the divisive politician won't try. He told NBC News in March 2025 that he's "not joking" about attempting to pursue a third term. "A lot of people want me to do it," he claimed. "There are methods which you could do it." By May of that year, Trump told NBC News' "Meet the Press" that he wouldn't be seeking a third term. "I'll be an eight-year president, I'll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important," he said at the time, per BBC. When asked about his previous comments that indicated the contrary, Trump claimed he was just roasting the "fake news media."

Trump has continued jumping between saying that he would attempt to run for a third term and arguing that he wouldn't. In August 2025, he again ruffled feathers when he agreed he likely wouldn't pursue a third term but quickly added, "I'd like to," per CBS News. The president even added "Trump 2028" hats to his MAGA merch collection for good measure.