The FAA Brings Down the Hammer on Donald Trump’s Name

It’s not just Celebrity Apprentice and Miss Universe, or even the eponymous Donald Trump clothing line at Macy’s (manufactured in Mexico and China, cough) … or celebrity chefs like Jose Andres unwilling to open in the new DC Trump hotel property…

now even the FAA is eliminating any vestige of Trump branding.

Three navigation coordination points above Palm Beach International Airport that had been named in honor of Donald J. Trump will be renamed, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday.

“In general, the F.A.A. chooses names that are noncontroversial,” said an agency spokeswoman, Laura Brown.

Though Trump had previously claimed to be flattered to have navigation points “DONLD” “TRMMP” and “UFIRD” named for him, now that they’re being taken away he claims these were “an honor I never knew I had.”

These have long been controversial, it seems.

“We actually have had reports of people refusing to fly these departures because they are so offended by the fact that Trump has been memorialized,” Mr. Agnew told the airport’s advisory committee during a 2010 meeting.

Considering the man has previously filed a $100 million lawsuit over Palm Beach air traffic control and tried to use government eminent domain to take a home from a senior citizen to build a casino parking lot (seniors are an important constituency in South Florida!) I’m surprised these lasted at all.

Apparently “IVNKA ONE” remains safe for now, however.

Trump’s 757 will have to navigate the area without self-referential waypoints.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. I bet that after suffering this latest ignominy, the buffoon’s stock as presidential material will rise even higher among the Republican primary voters …go figure.

  2. I am NOT a Trumph fan and never have been. However, I am discouraged by the attitudes of Americans and this concensus that everything has to be 100% PC. I’m even trying to be a bit more PC here than I really feel! Let’s make a big stink about the Confederate flag, because this was obviously the reason 9 people were shot down south! And now that it’s gone from one place, we’ve accomlished much, and everything is Just Fine now. Americans, in general, are stupid. I have a terrible feeling this will be proven again in the next presidential election. We’ll end up with a majority of people wanting to “make history”, again, which gaurantees a continuance of the poor showing we’ve had from the last “history making” event.

    Back to Trump. Watching the news with little interest a couple of days ago, I saw the normal news-frenzy blasting him followed by some footage of streams of heavily armed illegal aliens crossing the border into Arizona. Did ANYONE pay attention to that? And the folk on this border in Arizona are genuinely frighted. Who wouldn’t be? I’m personally nice and safe in Ohio, but perhaps Americans ought to put themselves in the shoes of fellow countrymen in this area and imagine this activity in their own back yards. You know, instead of trying to make a controversy out of how one man described the problem.

    America is full of real problems. One of them is that we often choose to focus on the trivial details rather than the actual problems themselves. Heaven forbid, in this free-speech country, someone steps out of line ever so slightly.

    Again, I’m not a Donald Trump fan. I don’t really like him. But I am boycotting Macy’s, simply because of their idiotic “PC” decision. I’d boycott some of the others, too, but I don’t have any real interaction with them.

    I was looking for a place to vent, and would have never expected it would be in one of my favorite FF blogs. Whatever. I appreciate the opportunity to exercise my right to free speech.

  3. Argh. “Trump”. Before someone decides spelling is now a serious issue. You KNOW who you are.

  4. Gary, sometimes I wonder why you ‘wander’ away from the areas in which you have established a long standing history of relevant (usually) information.

    This is just another example of your attempt at being a TMZ knockoff.

    Why not stick with air miles and hotels and you can’t go wrong.

  5. Its starting to sound like Trump is starting to tread on some toes that need treading on.

  6. Why would you care (cough) if Trump has his products manufactured abroad? His view is unchecked illegal immigration is a net loser for the country, not that global trade is bad.

    Seems that your point is either meant to purposely mislead or you a just ignorant.

    But you do have relevant things to say about travel

  7. @Cheap Pete – Trump also argues against current trade arrangements which he believes displace American workers. He isn’t just against immigration.

  8. In fairness arguing against current trade arrangements is not the same as saying global trade is bad.

    For example, you may have a policy in place to offer free flow of goods into the US but a very restricted flow of goods into the other country. Arguing against such a trade arrangement is not equivalent to saying global trade is bad.

    I think you were just trying to be cute linking products he makes in Mexico with his stance against illegal Mexican immigration, which he articulated in a bombastic manner to gather free attention, which he did.

  9. @Cheap Pete actually I think it’s a pretty fair rendition of Trump’s fairly extreme anti-trade views. That he’s also employing immigrants on his construction projects is also fairly ironic.

  10. Gary, it’s your blog, your “View From The Wing” and you are entitled to make comments on any subject. I don’t have a “dog in the fight” with Trump or any of the other politicians attempting to become the next President.

    imo—you do a service to yourself and to those of us who read your postings when you stick to ” the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel” areas in which you have a great deal of experience and have be recognized over the years.

    Simple!

  11. @DCS – I assume you mean Fox News. But no, actually, depending on who turns the TV on, it’s either NBC or CBS. But you can find the truth anywhere, if you really want to.

  12. And yet he still speaks the truth about illegals crossing our border. You and I use a passport.

  13. @knick1959 — Just wondered, since your initial rant sounded like something straight out of Faux News commentary…

  14. @knick1959

    So you’re okay with the fact that Trump is pro-choice and pro-universal healthcare? I find when I bring this up the Tea-liban folks get really quiet!

  15. @DCS made some silly assumptions (without actually making a point anywhere), as he apparenly watches Fox News more than I. Now I see we have more assumptions. *I’d* make an assumption now, and I’d be much more accurate than what we’ve seen so far. But I won’t. 🙂

    There are many who are for universal health care but still against ObamaCare. My own cost of healthcare sky rocketed this year. I AM NOT better off than I was 2, 3 or even 10 years ago as far as healthcare goes. I haven’t really studied Trump’s policy … I thought we were debating his comments about illegal immigration and the resulting reaction? Yeah, I’m painting more mental pictures.

    I’ve always thought abortion was a personal decision. Again, I have no idea what The Donald thinks … I’m not really here to debate politics with liberals. My mission was merely to show the inability of many Americans to use simple logic when observing these things. We have more of an overbearing PC-mob-mentality taking over, and this is a terrible development.

    I just wish people would actually think. Donald? Sure. But everyone else should have to do this, too. This IS America, and thinking isn’t a requirement. But it should be.

    Not really looking to extend this “debate”. I’ve said my piece and nobody’s really offered a counter, other than this attempt to tangent. Have a nice weekend, or what’s left of it.

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