New US Passport Redesign Draws Claude Comparisons as Rubio Unveils the 2028 Flight of the Eagle

The new US passport has found an unlikely second life online: as a comparison point for Claude, Anthropic's AI assistant.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled the 2028 US passport design on 29 September, presenting a blue cover with a larger, more prominent gold Great Seal and a redesigned interior built around an animated eagle. The State Department said it worked with the National Design Studio on the overhaul.

Some X users focused less on the patriotic redesign than on its typography. One asked why the cover looked as though 'Claude designed it', while others compared the small all-caps 'PASSPORT' label above the larger country name with the visual style associated with AI interfaces.

The comparisons are jokes about the appearance of the passport. There is no evidence that Anthropic or Claude was involved in designing or influencing the government document.

Why the New US Passport Looks Different

Rubio said the State Department worked with the National Design Studio to rethink the passport 'from cover to cover'. He said the words 'United States of America' had been moved to the top, while the Great Seal had been made larger, more prominent and more gold.

The biggest change is inside the book. An eagle appears to move across the right-hand pages as they are turned, creating a flipbook-like effect that makes the bird appear to fly.

Rubio said the eagle carries travellers across 250 years of US history. The interior artwork includes scenes involving the American Revolution, westward expansion, the Wright brothers, the US Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima and NASA's Artemis programme.

The redesign is planned for 2028. The State Department has also introduced new passport packaging, replacing the previous presentation with a new box for passport deliveries.

The passport itself will move to a single 38-page format, replacing the current 26-page and 50-page options. A federal notice published in April confirmed that the change would take effect with the next passport redesign.

What Changes For Passport Applicants

The passport redesign is part of a wider effort to change how Americans apply for travel documents.

The State Department aims to allow most Americans, including first-time applicants, to complete passport applications online through America.gov by the end of 2027. Rubio said the new system would allow people to complete the process from home, including submitting photographs digitally.

The department also plans to provide more information about application status and estimated delivery dates.

For travellers, however, the passport will still serve the same basic purpose: establishing identity and US citizenship for international travel. Existing passports will remain valid until their stated expiry dates, so the redesign does not mean Americans must immediately replace their current documents.

The new design is therefore a visual change rather than a change to the basic function of the passport.

Will Trump Appear Inside the 2028 Passport?

Another question concerns artwork shown during the rollout that appeared to depict Donald Trump.

That should not be confused with the separate Patriot Passport, a commemorative US passport created for America's 250th anniversary. The State Department confirms that the limited-edition document features a portrait of Trump on its inside front cover, alongside text from the Declaration of Independence.

It has not been confirmed that Trump will appear in the standard 2028 passport. Rubio's presentation confirmed the broader historical artwork and the animated eagle, but the final artwork for every interior page has not been publicly detailed.

That distinction matters. The Patriot Passport is a separate commemorative document, while the redesigned 2028 passport is intended to become the standard US passport.

For now, the confirmed redesign is larger, more gold and far more visually detailed than the current cover. Rubio presented it as a visual journey through American history.

Online, some users saw something else: a government passport whose typography looked surprisingly familiar to anyone accustomed to AI design tools.