House Republicans want to rename Dulles after Trump

A group of House Republicans want to rename Washington Dulles International Airport after former President Trump.

“In my lifetime, our nation has never been greater than under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump,” Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), the sponsor of a bill introduced Friday to name the Virginia airport the “Donald J. Trump International Airport,” said in a news release.

“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,” Reschenthaler continued.

Dulles — named for former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who served in the Eisenhower administration — is located in Virginia, more than 25 miles west of central Washington, D.C. It is one of three major airports in the D.C. area, alongside Reagan Washington National Airport, also in Virginia, and the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland. 

Co-sponsors of the bill include GOP Reps. Mike Waltz (Fla.), Andy Ogles (Tenn.), Chuck Fleischmann (Tenn.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Troy Nehls (Texas) and Barry Moore (Ala.). 

It is unclear whether the legislation, which has been introduced as Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee for president in November, will get traction in the Republican-controlled House, but it would be dead on arrival in the Democratic Senate.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), whose district partially includes Dulles, criticized the bill in a Tuesday post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Donald Trump is facing 91 felony charges,” Connolly pointed out in his post. “If Republicans want to name something after him, I’d suggest they find a federal prison.”

Connolly’s fellow Virginian, Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D), whose district also partially includes Dulles, also criticized the bill in her own X post.

“This is just another in a long list of instances where extreme House Republicans have shown how unserious & delusional they are,” Wexton said Tuesday. “Let’s get to work on the real issues the American people sent us here for—not renaming an airport after someone who sought to undermine our democracy.”

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority declined to comment when The Hill reached out.

The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign.

Updated 3:57 p.m.