NEW YORK (AP) — The Rev. Al Sharpton led a protest march Thursday through Manhattan's Financial District to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The New York civil rights leader was joined by clergy, labor and community leaders in a demonstration dubbed the “March on Wall Street” that was timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963.
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Protesters gather before they walk for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Protesters cheer as they listen to speeches for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Jayon Rivera, 11, of Buffalo, N.Y., holds up a sign prior to the start of the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani arrives for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Rev. Al Sharpton, center left, and Martin Luther King III, right, walk for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Martin Luther King III, right, walks next to Rev. Al Sharpton for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Rev. Al Sharpton, center, alongside Martin Luther King III, walk for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Rev. Al Sharpton speaks with reporters after delivering a sermon at Howard University's Cramton Auditorium, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in Washington, to announce a national drive in support of District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, as President Donald Trump's administration continues it's use of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in the city. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
“We come to Wall Street rather than Washington this year to let them know: you can try to turn back the clock, but you can’t turn back time," Sharpton said as he kicked off the 45-minute march, adding they were going to “keep the dream alive on Wall Street.”
Among the march participants was Jonathan Garde, of Lithonia, Georgia, who came in part to show “DEI is much needed in our society today because it promotes fairer and more inclusive work environments, which are essential for business success, innovation, and social progress.”
Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has moved to end DEI programs within the federal government and warned schools to do the same or risk losing federal money.
In response, Sharpton's civil rights group, the National Action Network, has encouraged consumers to avoid U.S. retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity among their employees and reducing discrimination against members of minority groups, women and LGBTQ+ people.
Earlier this year, Sharpton met with Target’s CEO as groups called for a boycott of the retail giant, which joined Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers in foregoing DEI initiatives.
The civil rights leader has also called for "buy-cotts” in support of companies such as Costco that have stuck by their DEI principles despite the conservative backlash.
“Corporate America wants to walk away from Black communities, so we are marching to them to bring this fight to their doorstep,” Sharpton said in a statement ahead of Thursday's march.
The event began in Foley Square, near the African Burial Ground that's the largest known resting place of enslaved and freed Africans in the country. The square is also near 26 Federal Plaza, the federal government building that's become a symbol of Trump's nationwide immigration crackdown, with agents detaining migrants during their routine appearances at the immigration court located there.
The group marched down a section of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker tape parades, and went past the corner of Wall Street itself — though it did not turn down the famed street where the New York Stock Exchange is located.
Among those marching was state Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate in the upcoming New York City mayoral race.
Sharpton told the crowd he had invited New York City mayoral candidates — including Mamdani, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — to take part in the march, then derisively noted the latter two were not at the event.
“I don’t endorse candidates, but I take attendance,” Sharpton said, drawing laughter from many in the crowd.
Mamdani called on attendees to continue to fight for justice for all and to keep the Rev. Martin Luther King's dream alive, noting "we have heard time and again that it has to be deferred, and yet we know its time has come.”
Protesters gather before they walk for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Protesters cheer as they listen to speeches for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Jayon Rivera, 11, of Buffalo, N.Y., holds up a sign prior to the start of the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani arrives for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Rev. Al Sharpton, center left, and Martin Luther King III, right, walk for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Martin Luther King III, right, walks next to Rev. Al Sharpton for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Rev. Al Sharpton, center, alongside Martin Luther King III, walk for the March on Wall Street, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Rev. Al Sharpton speaks with reporters after delivering a sermon at Howard University's Cramton Auditorium, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in Washington, to announce a national drive in support of District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, as President Donald Trump's administration continues it's use of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in the city. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump isn't leaving it to future generations.
As the first year of his second term wraps up, his administration and allies have put the president’s name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.
That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
It’s unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace tributes of that number and scale, especially those proffered by members of his administration. And while past sitting presidents have typically been honored by local officials naming schools and roads after them, it's exceedingly rare for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named for someone still in power.
“At no previous time in history have we consistently named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “One might even extend that to say a president who is still alive. Those kind of memorializations are supposed to be just that — memorials to the passing hero.”
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the TrumpRx website linked to the president's deals to lower the price of some prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”
"The Administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again," Huston said.
The White House pointed out that the nation's capital was named after President George Washington and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while each was serving as president.
For Trump, it’s a continuation of the way he first etched his place onto the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who affixed his name in big gold letters on luxury buildings and hotels, a casino and assorted products like neckties, wine and steaks.
As he ran for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures for watches, fragrances, Bibles and sneakers — including golden high tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump's businesses launched a Trump Mobile phone company, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a cryptocurrency memecoin named $TRUMP.
That’s not to be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said the U.S. Mint is planning.
Trump has also reportedly told the owners of Washington’s NFL team that he would like his name on the Commanders’ new stadium. The team’s ownership group, which has the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November called the proposed name “beautiful” and said Trump made the rebuilding of the stadium possible.
The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so outraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban the naming or renaming of any federal building or land after a sitting president — a ban that would retroactively apply to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace.
“I think he is a narcissist who likes to see his name up there. If he owns a hotel, that’s his business,” Sanders said in an interview. “But he doesn’t own federal buildings.”
Sanders likened Trump's penchant for putting his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.
“If the American people want to name buildings after a president who is deceased, that’s fine. That’s what we do,” Sanders said. “But to use federal buildings to enhance your own position very much sounds like the ‘Great Leader’ mentality of North Korea, and that is not something that I think the American people want.”
Although some of the naming has been suggested by others, the president has made clear he’s pleased with the tributes.
Three months after the announcement of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was proposed by Armenian officials, the president gushed about it at a White House dinner.
“It’s such a beautiful thing, they named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually a big deal,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.
Engel, the presidential historian, said the practice can send a signal to people "that the easiest way to get access and favor from the president is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him.”
Some of the proposals for honoring Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day," placing the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation that calls for the Washington-area rapid transit system, known as the Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.
McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to revamp the airport, which currently is a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.
The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a champion for combating the scourge of fentanyl, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother’s overdose death. But he also cited Trump’s efforts to strike peace deals all over the world and called him “one of the most consequential presidents ever.”
“I think that’s somebody that deserves to be honored, whether they’re still the president or whether they’re not," he said.
More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.
Republican state lawmaker Meg Weinberger said she is working on an effort to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dulles effort.
The road that the president will see christened Friday is not the first Florida asphalt to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.
In the south Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there as President Donald J. Trump Avenue.
Trump, speaking at a Miami business conference the next month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the mayor for it.
“Anybody that names a boulevard after me, I like,” he said.
He added a few moments later: “A lot of people come back from Hialeah, they say, ‘They just named a road after you.' I say, ‘That’s OK.’ It’s a beginning, right? It’s a start.”
FILE - A sign for the Rose Garden is seen near the Presidential Walk of Fame on the Colonnade at the White House, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Workers add President Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, after a Trump-appointed board voted to rename the institution, in Washington, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - A poster showing the Trump Gold Card is seen as President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)
