IT must be a shared humanity that has bonded the ‘leader of the free world’ so closely with his counterparts in South Asia. Much like the scions of our political dynasties, who love to see their likenesses plastered over everything they can lay their hands on, Donald J. Trump, president of the United States, has developed a strong penchant for stamping his name and his face on every blank surface of the republic. A new, commemorative design for the American passport, unveiled this week to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary of independence, shows Mr Trump’s stern likeness leaning over his desk with the Declaration of Independence in the background. The American president proudly shared a mock-up of the travel document on social media, with the genial warning, “Welcome, but be good!” One wondered if his frowning face is intended to be a ‘Big Brother is watching’ type of warning to immigrants who have finally received the affirmation of their citizenship.

Or perhaps it will make Americans feel more emboldened during their travels, knowing that Mr Trump is right there in their pockets, ready to glower at the next official who asks for documents. Whatever the case may be, as Pakistanis, we should welcome Washington to the club. Personality cults in our parts are less a scandal and more a time-honoured political tradition. We understand better than many others the need to see one’s face on every billboard, their name on every welfare scheme, and their presence at every inauguration. Our leaders know intimately that the key to success lies in being seen more than they are heard. To see one of the world’s oldest democracies now adopting our ways of doing things should, perhaps, be taken as a sincere form of flattery. It is only the errant whose thoughts will go to Nietzsche and his warning that “If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you”.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2026