Congressional Republicans are once again pushing to rename Dulles International Airport after President Donald Trump.
North Carolina Rep. Addison McDowell introduced H.R. 691 last Thursday, Jan. 23 to designate the Northern Virginia airport as “Donald J. Trump International Airport,” proclaiming the move a fitting parallel to former president Ronald Reagan’s moniker gracing Washington National Airport in Arlington.
“We have entered the golden age of America largely thanks to President Trump’s leadership,” McDowell said in a press release. “It is only right that the two airports servicing our nation’s capital are duly honored and respected by two of the best presidents to have the honor of serving our great nation.”
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the resolution is identical to one filed last year by Pennsylvania Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, who is one of four co-sponsors on McDowell’s proposal, along with Reps. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), Riley Moore (R-West Virginia) and Brian Jack (R-Georgia).
After facing long odds in 2024, the proposal’s chances of taking off might have improved this year with its honoree back in the White House and Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress, albeit with a slim 4-person majority in the House.
However, the Democratic congressmen who represent Fairfax and Loudoun counties, where Dulles Airport is located, remain decidedly opposed to the prospect of naming a critical component of the region’s transportation network and economy after a man whose efforts to downsize the federal government, among other policies, could destabilize that economy.
“When Republicans tried the first time to name Dulles after Donald Trump, I said it would be a better fit for the federal prison nearest to Mar-a-Lago to bear his name,” Rep. Gerry Connolly said in a statement to FFXnow, referring to Trump’s Florida resort and residence. “I still can think of no more fitting an honor for our first convicted felon President.”
Trump was convicted by a New York jury last May of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to bury allegations of an extramarital affair with a porn actor, a scheme that prosecutors argued illegally influenced the 2016 presidential election. A judge granted Trump an unconditional discharge, meaning he’ll face no penalties, on Jan. 10 — just 10 days before his inauguration last Monday (Jan. 20).
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, who was elected last November to replace Jennifer Wexton in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District seat, suggested his colleagues should redirect their energy to other issues.
“It’s disappointing, but entirely unsurprising, that House Republicans would rather focus their efforts on renaming airports to honor their dear leader than tackling the real issues facing Americans,” Subramanyam said today (Monday) in a press release. “Instead of renaming our airport Trump Airport in a community that rejected Trump and his policies several times, House Republicans should focus on helping working families, lowering the price of everyday goods and services, and supporting our schools.”
Opened in 1962, Dulles International Airport is named after John Foster Dulles, who helped establish the U.S.’s foreign policy during the Cold War as secretary of state under president Dwight Eisenhower. Its official name changed to Washington Dulles International Airport in 1982 out of concern that travelers might think the airport is in Dallas, Texas.
In a move that remains contentious decades later, Washington National Airport was renamed in 1998 following a campaign by the conservative group Reagan Legacy Project of the Americans for Tax Reform. Then-president Bill Clinton signed the name change into law on Reagan’s 87th birthday, despite objections from Democrats and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association over Reagan’s firing of 11,000 striking air traffic controllers in 1981.
