Major U.S. Airport Will Be Renamed After Donald Trump, and His Family Will Keep the Profits
Palm Beach International is being renamed for Trump in a 4-3 county vote. His family company controls the merchandise, picks the vendors, keeps the profits, and the county has no way out.
Palm Beach International Airport is getting a new name, branded by Donald Trump. Trump’s family company controls the trademark, picks the merchandise vendors, and keeps 100% of the profits from off-site sales. The county can never exit the deal on its own.
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben described the arrangement as “extremely unusual” for an honorary presidential naming. He flagged the structure that lets the Trump family profit from off-sitemerchandise sales, the rule that airport retailers must buy from vendors the Trump family picks, and the company’s approval power over how Trump’s image and likeness get used in airport marketing.
The Palm Beach County Commission approved the deal in a 4-3 vote on May 5. Three Republicans voted yes (Maria G. Marino, Marci Woodward, and Mayor Sara Baxter). Democrat Maria Sachs joined them, citing Trump’s local ties, potential economic benefit, and the risk of losing state transportation funding if the deal collapsed. The three other Democrats (Gregg K. Weiss, Joel G. Flores, and Bobby Powell Jr.) voted no. They cited the lack of review time (the final agreement arrived Monday for a Tuesday vote) and the absence of any termination clause.
Trump signed the licensing agreement personally on Sunday, May 3, alongside DTTM Operations LLC, the family’s trademark company. Donald Trump Jr. is DTTM’s president. After the commission vote, Eric Trump posted a proposed logo for the airport on social media.
DTTM is a Delaware company that holds and licenses Donald Trump’s personal trademarks, including Mar-a-Lago, Trump National Golf Club, and Truth Social. It filed trademark applications for “Donald J. Trump International Airport,” “President Donald J. Trump International Airport,” and “DJT” in mid-February, several weeks before Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida HB 919 on March 30. That bill is what made the rename possible.
The Trump family’s control applies only to airport-branded merchandise. The county still keeps revenue from regular airport sales, like food, drinks, and other concessions. DTTM’s reach is everything bearing the airport’s new name.
Within that lane, DTTM has full control. It can sell airport-branded merchandise anywhere it wants (online, in other locations, or through other parties) and keep all the profits. Airport retailers selling on-site must buy any branded merchandise from vendors DTTM picks. DTTM also has 30-day approval rights over all logos, brand guidelines, and any use of Trump’s image, likeness, or biographical information in airport marketing.
The license is perpetual. The county can only exit if the FAA denies or revokes approval, or if state lawmakers change the law. The rebranding is projected to cost $5.5 million. The county is asking the state to pay for it.
County Attorney David Ottey defended the vendor clause as quality control. He acknowledged the approved retailers have not yet been identified.
The U.S. has 8 other commercial airports named after presidents. JFK was renamed in honor of Kennedy after his 1963 assassination. Ronald Reagan Washington National was renamed in 1998, nine years after Reagan’s second term ended. George Bush Intercontinental came after the presidency. Gerald R. Ford International, Abraham Lincoln Capital, Bill and Hillary Clinton National, Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National, and Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional were all named after their namesakes left office or after their deaths. None were renamed while the president was still in office. In none of those cases did a private family business own the name or hold approval and vendor rights as part of the deal.