He painted "Newport" on the back of his New Zealand built yacht.
I would also add that this ultra-rich sub human carried on in 2004 about American executives who moved business overseas to avoid taxes being "Benedict Arnolds."
Good catch...
It will be interesting to see what yarn he tells if someone asks him that very question. While it's probably true the ship was undergoing extensive sea trials, which would be the case in any semi-custom yacht, especially when she's the first model of a series.
And, it's also true that stenciling the name of the homeport is not done for vanity, but because the USCG regulations demand it. This ship is of the size that it's an inspected and documented vessel, and the homeport designation is part of the documentation process. Since the builder is located in Newport, that's where the ship would be originally documented.
BUT - there's always a BUT - the USCG does not require that builders operating vessels for reasonable sea trials and for reasonable periods of time, stencil the yacht's homeport on the transom. Why? Because well over 90% of the documented yachts that are built in America, are actually operated under a foreign flag. So, because a US builder would fly a US flag during trials, the Coast Guard doesn't want a "Georgetown" (which is a Cayman port) port stencil directly under a US flag. If "Newport" was stenciled on the yacht's transom, then that his PRECISELY what the owner wanted stenciled on the transom.