President Donald Trump now has his name on a major commercial airport and a bridge spanning across East Tennessee, both unveiled Thursday in what amounted to a coordinated dual tribute across state lines.
Palm Beach International Airport in Florida officially became President Donald J. Trump International Airport following action by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the enabling legislation in March. The transformation will cost at least $5.5 million and includes rebranding signage, terminal spaces, and digital systems throughout the facility. Airport officials said the work will unfold over several weeks, with old and new branding elements coexisting in terminals during the transition.
The airport's three-letter code will remain PBI until August 18, when it converts to DJT. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved the Trump family's trademark application on June 18. Trump's private campaign jet, Trump Force One, landed at the renamed airport at 5:01 a.m. ET following the official change, according to Eric Trump, the president's son.
On the same day in Tennessee, officials unveiled signage for the President Donald J. Trump Bridge in Jefferson County along Interstate 40. The structure was previously named the Francis Burnett Swann Memorial Bridge. The Tennessee Legislature passed the renaming law last year as part of broader legislation affecting multiple bridges and roads across the state.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attended the Tennessee ceremony and delivered remarks emphasizing Trump's record. "From this day forward, every driver that encounters this bridge will see that it bears his name, because he has never stopped fighting for the people who travel on it because he has made their cause his own," Bessent said.
Trump responded to the Florida announcement via Truth Social on Thursday evening, calling it "a very big day in Palm Beach" and predicting the airport would become "one of the Greatest and Most Spectacular Airports anywhere in the World."
Eric Trump expressed personal pride in the airport naming, noting he uses the facility nearly daily. "As a son, and someone who flies out of this airport nearly every day, I will forever be proud to see the initials 'DJT' on my boarding pass," he wrote on X.
The dual naming comes weeks after Trump's name was removed from the Kennedy Center in Washington following a federal court order. His name had been added to the performing arts center in December but was stripped after a monthslong legal battle.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Two Trump nameplates in a single news cycle signals where Republican power sits right now, and how eager officials are to claim credit for proximity to it."
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