Nationwide — Trump is set to have Palm Beach International Airport renamed in his honor, as his company has filed trademarks for the potential new name. The filings raise questions about conflicts of interest and the unusual steps taken by a sitting president.
Florida lawmakers recently advanced plans to rename the airport near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as “Donald J. Trump International Airport.” The proposal is moving quickly through the GOP-controlled legislature and has sparked both excitement among supporters and criticism from watchdogs.
According to ABC News, a company tied to the Trump Organization, DTTM Operations, filed trademark applications on February 13 for names including “President Donald J. Trump International Airport.” The filings are meant to protect the name from misuse, according to Trump Organization spokesperson Kimberly Banza.
Banza emphasized that Trump and his family will not receive any money from the airport renaming. “To be clear, the President and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee, or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming,” she said, framing the filings as a preventive measure rather than a profit attempt.
Critics argue that even without direct profit, the situation illustrates potential conflicts of interest. Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight said, “public cannot discern whether President Trump’s decisions are guided by the public interest or his own personal profit.”
Trademark lawyer Josh Gerben noted, “While presidents and public officials have had landmarks named in their honor, a sitting president’s private company has never in the history of the United States sought trademark rights in advance of such naming.” He added this raises legal questions about whether a publicly owned airport would need to license the name from Trump’s business.
Trump has also expressed interest in having other major locations, like Dulles Airport and New York’s Penn Station, carry his name, though he later denied those claims. The Palm Beach airport naming effort remains the most concrete move so far.