If we're naming roads after Trump, we should do the same for Epstein | Opinion
To spell it out: President Donald J. Trump Boulevard ends to the east at Mar-a-Lago, which would be the southern endpoint to Jeffrey Epstein Way.
I’ve got an idea how to soothe the Palm Beach County, Florida, residents who object to changing the name of a chunk of Southern Boulevard to President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
This sentiment was cogently explained by reader Peggy Butler, of West Palm Beach, in a letter published in The Palm Beach Post last weekend ("Street renaming dishonors Palm Beach County," July 20).
“He’s torn this country apart and does not deserve any kind of honor, especially this,” she wrote.
I agree with Butler that the rush to name roads after Trump seems too premature. Wouldn’t it be best to allow Trump’s promised “golden age” of America to play out to determine whether it ends up best describing a precious metal or a biological waste product?
The unanimous vote by the Board of County Commissioners to rename the road follows an act of premature adulation passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to direct the Florida Department of Transportation to erect a sign on the road to honor Trump.
Florida lawmakers are getting ahead of themselves
But state law also calls for local municipalities that would be impacted by the name change to offer their approval. This means that West Palm Beach and the Town of Palm Beach still need to weigh in on the road name change for the portion that goes through their jurisdictions.
So, it’s not quite a done deal. Nonetheless, Trump jumped at the chance to declare victory.
"It has been brought to my attention that the Great State of Florida, which I won BIG three times, and where I am a proud Resident, has renamed an important four-mile stretch of Southern Boulevard, in Palm Beach County, to ‘PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP BOULEVARD,’" Trump wrote on Truth Social within hours after the vote on July 8.
I’ll bet that this is the first time this stretch of roadway that includes the Gas Food Mart, the La Familia Coin Laundry and the Take 5 Oil Change garage has been called “important” by a U.S. president.
Not to nitpick, but while it’s true that Trump carried Florida in the past three presidential elections, he lost in Palm Beach County every time.
Hillary Clinton beat Trump here in 2016 with 56.57% of the vote, Joe Biden beat Trump in the county in 2020 with 55.97% of the vote, and Kamala Harris beat Trump last year in Palm Beach County with 49.77% to 49%.
In other words: We’re not all that into Trump when compared with other places in Florida.
It’s understandable then why local residents like Butler are peeved that we get stuck with honoring the “felonious” Trump.
Even so, it’s unlikely that renaming this portion of Southern Boulevard after Trump is going to be reconsidered. Google Maps is already listing previous Southern Boulevard addresses in this stretch between Mar-a-Lago and Kirk Road to the new Trump name.
I propose 'Jeffrey Epstein Way'
The solution could be to embrace the name change and pair it with another one that would serve as a fix.
I’m proposing “Jeffrey Epstein Way” on what is now an “important section” of Ocean Boulevard that leads to Mar-a-Lago.
As revelations continue to spill out about Trump’s friendship with Epstein, a sexual abuser of underage girls, it’s becoming quite clear that the president doesn’t want the kind of disclosures he promised the MAGA base during his reelection campaign.
He now says that the Epstein matter is “boring” and a “hoax,” and that we should move on. This just makes him sound like somebody with a lot to hide.
So here’s my idea. Let’s get behind another road name change that might also be somewhat premature.
Epstein’s Palm Beach home was on El Brillo Way, a small street that feeds into Ocean Boulevard, about a mile north of Mar-a-Lago.
Naming that stretch of Ocean Boulevard after Epstein will geographically be a reminder that Epstein leads to Trump’s door.
To spell it out: President Donald J. Trump Boulevard ends to the east at Mar-a-Lago, which would be the southern endpoint to Jeffrey Epstein Way.
They’d be connected.
I think this might be the only way that everybody in Palm Beach County could agree with having a road named after Trump.
Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, where this column originally published. He can be reached at FCerabino@pbpost.com