Palm Beach County and the Trump Organization have reached an agreement on the use of Donald Trump’s name to rename Palm Beach International airport for the President. They will vote on it on Tuesday.
A new law in Florida provides that Palm Beach’s airport “shall be renamed” President Donald J. Trump International Airport, effective July 1, 2026, subject to FAA approval and execution of an agreement with Trump allowing the airport no-cost use of the name.
One of the concerns expressed by opponents of the law was that the President was going to profit from it. Nonsense, supporters said, they’d make it explicit that Palm Beach would only do this if they got to use the name for free. And they do! But… the agreement is set up to allow the President to make money on the merch.
Palm Beach County’s May 5 meeting includes asking commissioners to approve a Naming Rights and License Agreement with DTTM Operations, LLC and President Donald J. Trump. County staff describe the deal as giving the county a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free right to use the airport name for airport operations, marketing, signage, branding, promotions, and related purposes. And that’s true.
- Trump gets to control biographical material used by the airport. The airport can’t make factual claims about the President without his approval.
- If the county or a retail business operating on airport property wants to sell merchandise bearing the airport name, it must buy that merchandise directly from entities designated by Trump. Trump’s own company and its affiliates can’t receive money for this – but they can specify who will.
Airport retailers that want to sell airport-named merchandise must buy from Trump-designated entities. Trump-linked entities cannot themselves profit from airport sales of Trump airport merchandise – but they can sell and profit from it off-airport.
And there’s a non-disparagement clause, with the county agreeing not to use the airport’s name in a way that could tarnish Trump’s reputation which is awkward from a speech standpoint, even with a first amendment carveout.
It’s entirely reasonable for a President to be interested in his naming legacy, and not an uncommon thing for airports to be named for former Presidents. Palm Beach is Trump’s primary residence. It’s just a bit unseemly to do it while he’s still in office.
Of course, other president-named airports do not have the name trademark owned by private companies, or the right to approve biographical material (control over political speech!).
I don’t love naming major public infrastructure after whatever party is in power. That’s not anti-Trump – I didn’t like it when Chicago was talking about renaming an airport for Obama, I was critical of renaming Las Vegas airport for Harry Reid, and criticized renaming Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport Hartsfield-Jackson all the way back in 2003.
Hopefully, though, naming Palm Beach International for President Trump will forestall naming Washington Dulles after him. Surely we don’t want more than one airport with the same name. That’s just a recipe for confusion, passengers flying to the wrong place, and misdirected bags.
On the contrary. It’s exactly what we deserve.
The fact that he controls the messaging means that anything biographical about him is going to be completely full of lies. What a disgrace.
So to advertise a publicly owned facility on publicly owned land, they have to pay a price to specified later – a price that could be in the thousands. Add in that he gets to write his own fiction, facts be damned, and this deal is just more grifting
They say the grifter-in-chief has increased his net wealth by $4 billion since he took office a year or so ago, (mainly through his crypto con). He never passes up a buck.
Like a tomcat marking his territory (and just a odoriferous) he has to have his name on everything.
Can I be alone waking up every day in a nightmare?
Merchandise? Reminds me of this classic scene:
@Andy, I believe the Trump crypto coins earned the Trump family about $350 million, it was the investors, who have seen their value drops over 95% who have lost 4 billion…..that said I’m sure the Trump family is making a lot of money elsewhere, especially in the Middle East.
It looks like this deal allows other people to pay the Trump family huge royalties for the right to sell the merch….just doesn’t allow Trump to sell it directly. The level of graft in this administration is stunning. When Trump said he could shoot someone in Central Park and his followers would still follow him he was sadly right……but what his followers don’t get is Trump was saying they are too stupid or perhaps immoral to discern right from wrong
What a piece of trash. I look forward to the celebration when he finally goes to exile, prison, or whatever.
Now every gate is Russiagate
What a bunch of horse hockey.