This week or next, the Arizona Senate will vote on a proposal to rename a state highway in Arizona for President Donald Trump. Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Kooksville, wants to transform State Route 260 into the Donald J. Trump Highway. “All across the nation people have really endorsed this concept and why?” she told the Senate Public Safety Committee earlier this month. “It’s because WE THE PEOPLE should be able to name our roads and our byways, and WE THE PEOPLE need to be represented and to be proud of our United States president.” It’s embarrassing, I know. One would think WE THE PEOPLE could do better by Trump than a 217.8-mile stretch of highway that is, for most of us, off the beaten track.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Why not call the Grand Canyon Donald's Ditch?
I mean, he has been president for a whole month now. Surely, we can come up with a more august honor, befitting his status as a superhero. Arizona is filled with awe inspiring scenery — with majestic mountains and impressive desert vistas that exist nowhere else on earth. Humphreys Peak is the state’s highest mountain. I’m picturing Trump Tower (the nature edition). Monument Valley could become the Valley of Monumental MAGA Men, with the iconic East and West Mitten Buttes refashioned to resemble Trump and his co-president, Elon Musk. It’s an easy edit for Route 66 to become Route 45/47. And the Grand Canyon? Why, Donald’s Ditch, of course.
A naming board could decide highway's fate
Alas, it appears the Republican-run Senate is content to propose honoring Trump with a mere strip of pavement that runs from Cottonwood to Eager.
Senate Concurrent Memorial 1001 offers 15 whereases to justify the Donald J. Trump Highway. Among other things, it notes that he won the popular vote, unleashed Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency on federal workers and “built over 400 miles of the world’s most robust and advanced border wall” during his first term. Left unmentioned was his promise to make Mexico pay for it. SCM 1001 breezed through the Public Safety Committee earlier this month on a party line vote. Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, told me he will bring it to the Senate floor either this week or next. Given that Republicans control both the Senate and the House, it seems clear that all roads lead to the altar of Trump, though with one speed bump remaining. Because it’s a memorial rather than a bill, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs can’t pull out her well-worn veto stamp. It’ll ultimately be up the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names to decide whether Trump rates one of Arizona’s highways.
But, really, a highway? That's all senators have?
If it seems bizarre to name a highway for someone who is still alive — there is, after all, still plenty of time for any live honoree to screw things up, and then where we will be? — clearly, you haven’t chugged the Kool-Aid. “They named an elementary school after (Sen.) Lela Alston,” Petersen reasoned. “I think it’s OK to name something after the highest elected officer in the country.” The school closed in 2012. Hopefully, the road will fare better, but I still think our leaders should emulate their hero and be bold. Trump, with the stroke of his Sharpie, declared an international body of water the Gulf of America. And the best we can do for Trump is give him a lousy highway?
Arizona needs a bigger rebrand for Trump
Heck, the Oklahoma Legislature is working on a bill to declare Nov. 5 (the day he was elected) a state holiday —
President Donald J. Trump Day . It’s time for the Arizona Legislature to step up its bootlicking game. Trump has, after all, been in office for 35 whole days. I’m thinking a complete state rebrand is in order. Mar-a-Zona has a ring to it, don’t you think?
Reach Roberts at . Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz , on Threads at @LaurieRobertsaz and on BlueSky at @laurieroberts.bsky.social . Subscribe to azcentral.com toda y.
