(Headline USA) A group of House Republicans introduced a bill this week that would rename northern Virginia’s Washington Dulles International Airport after former President Donald Trump.
The legislation, introduced by House Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., would change the airport’s name to the Donald J. Trump International Airport. It would require the name change in all references to Dulles in any law, regulation, map, document, or other record.
The airport is currently named after John Foster Dulles, a former secretary of state under President Dwight Eisenhower who helped lead the fight against communism during the early stages of the Cold War.
Reschenthaler argued Trump deserves the honor because of his leadership.
“In my lifetime, our nation has never been greater than under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump,” Reschenthaler said in a statement.
“As millions of domestic and international travelers fly through the airport, there is no better symbol of freedom, prosperity and strength than hearing ‘Welcome to Trump International Airport’ as they land on American soil.”
At least six other Republicans have co-sponsored the bill, including Reps. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.; Andy Ogles, R-Tenn.; Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn.; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; Barry Moore, R-Ala.; and Troy Nehls, R-Texas.
Ogles, Gosar, Moore and Nehls are all current members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, from which Trump drew two chiefs of staff and maintained several other close congressional allies during his presidency.
Congressional Democrats, however, made it clear they would not support the bill, which would also have to clear the Democrat-led Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden to become more than a symbolic hollow gesture.
“Donald Trump is facing 91 felony charges,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. “If Republicans want to name something after him, I’d suggest they find a federal prison.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., never one to miss an opportunity to push the debunked Russian collusion hoax, claimed that an airport named after Trump would have to have “continued round-trip service to Moscow.”
If the bill were to pass, the airport would join seven other airports in being named after a former president, including the well-known John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in nearby Washington, D.C.
While it is traditionally more common for presidents to receive naming honors after their passing, and not in the midst of a re-election campaign, Trump previously received a proposal from former Florida state lawmaker Anthony Sabatini that would have renamed a major stretch of highway spanning the entire state in his honor.
Former President Barack Obama, meanwhile, has had several things named after him, some of which have ignited controversy. Most recently, the city of Chicago drew the ire of Italian–American residents with a proposal to rename Columbus Drive, honoring explorer Christopher Columbus, in recognition of the Democrat president.
The road runs through Grant Park and Millenium Park, passing by some of the Windy City’s most prominent tourist destinations, including the Buckingham Fountain and artist Anish Kapoor’s “Cloud Gate” sculpture. Obama’s presidential library is currently under construction in nearby Jackson Park, and is due to open in 2026.
