House Republicans have introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport after Donald Trump, despite a mountain of legal woes for the former president that include being found liable for massive business fraud and twice responsible for sexually assaulting a woman.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pennsylvania), has received fervent support and fierce opposition from all sides of the political spectrum.
If the measure passes, Washington Dulles International Airport, a name deeply ingrained in the nation’s aviation history, would undergo a significant transformation, becoming the “Donald J. Trump International Airport.”
Reschenthaler and six other Republicans, including Reps. Michael Waltz of Florida and Paul Gosar of Arizona, have thrown their weight behind the initiative, hailing it as a tribute to Trump’s leadership.
In a statement, Reschenthaler lauded Trump’s tenure, proclaiming, “Freedom. Prosperity. Strength. That’s what America stood for under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump — the best president of my lifetime.”
However, critics have criticized the proposal as misguided and politically charged.
Democratic representatives have been quick to denounce the move. Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia labeled it “ridiculous,” urging Congress to prioritize pressing legislative matters over symbolic gestures. Meanwhile, Rep. Don Beyer, also from Virginia, highlighted Trump’s controversial policies, particularly his “Muslim ban,” as evidence of the former president’s divisive legacy.
Former Rep. Denver Riggleman, who previously assisted in the investigation of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, which Trump has been indicted for igniting, dismissed the proposal as a thinly veiled attempt to curry favor with Trump. Riggleman derided it as lacking in substance and condemned it as a distraction from the nation’s more pressing issues.
Among the more outrageous incidents involving Trump of late include his selling autographed copies of the Bible to help pay his nearly $500 million in legal debt, and his appearing to claim to be like Jesus.
Trump has been ordered to pay the writer, E. Jean Carroll, nearly $90 million in damages after two juries found he sexually assaulted her. His hush money trial begins later this month in New York and centers on an alleged extramarital affair he had with a porn actress, and a New York judge ordered him to pay $454 million in damages for massive business fraud.
Washington Dulles International Airport, a name synonymous with American aviation since its inauguration in December 1962, currently honors John Foster Dulles, a former secretary of state.
“One of Trump’s first acts as president was a racist Muslim ban that blocked permanent American residents from their own country,” Beyer stated. “I went to Dulles to try to help innocent people caught up in the chaos. I remember grandparents detained for hours as their terrified families waited.”
Social media user and Hampton graduate Darryn Briggs attempted to put into perspective the twisted proposal.
“On this attempt to name Dulles airport after Trump, it shows the GOP’s main expertise is nastiness,” Briggs asserted on X.
“In 1998, National Airport in Arlington was renamed after Ronald Reagan by Grover Norquist & cronies. They did this purposely as a stick in the eye to the area’s mostly liberal voting population, the large Black population, and the air traffic controllers that Reagan summarily fired for striking,” continued Briggs on X. “Many longtime residents STILL call it ‘National’ for this very reason. Naming the OTHER D.C. airport after Donald Trump… a 91 times indicted, twice-impeached, adjudicated rapist who botched the WORST pandemic in U.S. history and TRIED TO OVERTHROW THE U.S. GOVERNMENT…is merely par for the GOP course.”
