As the 2024 presidential election picks up steam, so is the race to kiss up to the presumptive GOP nominee. The battleground has taken to the sky as seven Republican House members push to rename DC’s international airport to Donald J. Trump International Airport.
Representative Guy Reschenthaler, the House GOP’s chief deputy whip, introduced a two-page bill to rename the Washington Dulles International Airport after the former president on Friday.
“In my lifetime, our nation has never been greater than under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump,” Reschenthaler told Fox News. “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.”
The bill is a dream come true for Trump — if not for the victims of his Muslim travel ban. According to sources close to the former president, he began dreaming of a Donald J. Trump International Airport as early as 2018 — as well as the navy carrier USS Donald Trump. Following the 2020 election he wondered aloud what paperwork was necessary to get an airport named after him. Trump almost got his wish when former Florida GOP official Christian Ziegler pushed to rename the Palm Beach International Airport, but the plan was shot down by the rest of his party.
Reschenthaler’s six co-sponsors —Representatives Michael Waltz, Andy Ogles, Chuck Fleischmann, Paul Gosar, Barry Moore and Troy Nehls — said renaming the airport does not break with presidential airport precedent.
“In 1998, Congress renamed the National Airport in Washington after one of our great presidents, Ronald Reagan,” Moore said. “It is only fitting that we would do the same for another one of our greatest presidents, Donald J. Trump, especially as he stands against the onslaught of weaponized government to fight for Americans like us.”
The bill may pass the GOP-controlled House but it will certainly be killed by the Democratic Senate. Still, Cockburn’s sources on the Hill say that Reschenthaler and his cronies aren’t likely to be discouraged.
Perhaps they could go a touch further: add Trump to Mount Rushmore? Replace Franklin on the $100 bill? Memorialize him in a series of votive candles? The possibilities are endless.
