petition to – A Change.org petition is pushing to rename Wabash Avenue—where Trump International Hotel and Tower sits—after Barack Obama, citing fights with President Donald Trump’s policies. The effort has drawn more than 22,000 signatures as the Obama Presidential Center
When Donald Trump’s name is hard to miss on the Chicago River skyline, it’s also never far from conflict.
Now, a growing petition is asking the city to change one detail that puts Trump’s tower address in the center of that argument: the street it sits on. The proposal would replace Wabash Avenue with “Barack Hussein Obama Avenue” for the building at 401 N. Wabash Ave.
The Change.org petition has drawn more than 22. 000 signatures as of June 16. ahead of the Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening on June 19 on the South Side. Petition organizer language frames the street renaming as a counter-message—one tied to inclusivity. resilience. and what the organizer describes as pushing back on President Donald Trump’s policies.
“ This would send a small message about the values we uphold as a city, those of inclusivity, resilience, and forward-thinking change, and fighting back in any way possible, ” the petition states.
The tower has long been a protest magnet, and the petition leans into that reality. The Trump International Hotel and Tower—where the letters spelling “Trump” stand 20 feet tall—has served as a highly visible backdrop for demonstrations for years. including recent “No Kings” protests where demonstrators walked by the building with signs in hand.
A petition website description ties the push to policy clashes beyond street-level symbolism. It cites challenges living with Trump’s policies. mentions the “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration enforcement crackdown carried out by the Trump administration in the fall of 2025. and links it to what it calls “rising gas prices” tied to what the organizer calls “a failed vanity war. ” likely referring to the war in Iran.
In that fall 2025 period. the crackdown led to more than 1. 500 arrests in two months. according to the Department of Homeland Security. and it included ongoing clashes between federal officers and protesters. The website says some residents were left afraid to go out for basic needs like grocery shopping or school.
The petition also points to shifting diplomatic news around Iran. On June 14, Trump announced that Iran and the U.S. had reached an agreement to stop fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a major waterway for the global oil supply chain.
The legal hurdles are steep. If the street renaming were to happen, it would require approval from the Chicago City Council. The petition also faces a distinction many residents may not think about until the words turn into paperwork: living people are not eligible for honorary street names that add a brown sign over the legal green signs. according to local outlet Block Club Chicago.
This is not the first attempt to alter the Trump Tower address. Other petitions to rename the address have been started in the past but did not gain significant traction, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Even if this one succeeded, the geography would be unlikely to match the emotional pull of the Obama Presidential Center. The center—home to a museum. civic center. athletic center. and a Chicago Public Library branch—sits in Jackson Park on the South Side. The proposed “Barack Hussein Obama Avenue” address would still place Trump International Hotel and Tower at 401 N. Wabash Ave., along the Chicago River in downtown.
That mismatch—between the ceremonial opening on the South Side and the tower’s downtown visibility—appears to be part of what the petitioners are trying to change. The petition momentum comes as the Obamas’ legacy in Chicago is being memorialized at the Obama Presidential Center opening June 19.
Trump, for his part, has repeatedly bashed the center online, posting illustrations of it as trash. But the Obama Foundation has said Trump is welcome to visit the center himself.
The petition organizers did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
For now, the only certainty is that thousands of signatures have put a street-name fight on the public record—one that turns an address into a battleground at a moment when Chicago is preparing to mark a major presidential legacy with a new center and a new spotlight.
Chicago Trump International Hotel and Tower Wabash Avenue Barack Hussein Obama Avenue Change.org petition Obama Presidential Center city council protests Operation Midway Blitz Strait of Hormuz