It really feels like Trump came into his second term thinking, “I didn’t put my stupid name and face onto enough government property the first time around!” This summer alone we’ve seen a Trump passport (limited edition, merciful heavens) and a Trump $1 gold coin (that’s not solid gold, only surface-painted). Now the rollout of a third self-memorializing effort is underway, and it’s having a very bumpy landing. Earlier this year Trump bullied Palm Beach County — his homebase in Florida — to rebrand their eponymous airport to Donald Jennifer Trump International. Dictator move, check. As part of this deal, Trump foisted a licensing agreement on the county for using his name, including on all branded airport merch which Trump has to approve of and at any time he can audit the airport’s books. Mobster move, check. But here’s where the flight path took an unexpected detour: changing all the digital and physical signage for an airport of this size comes at the staggering cost of $5.5 million. However, Governor DeSantis only allocated half that amount in the state’s budget. And wouldn’t you know, no one wants to foot the rest of the bill.
DJT on the outside, PBI on the inside: At first glance, the rebranding of the airport less than 5 miles from his opulent Mar-a-Lago resort appears to be complete. Its website bears the name and oversized logo of the President Donald J Trump international airport, and state transportation workers were quick to erect highway signs leaving drivers in no doubt where they were heading. Yet inside the terminals, at the ticket counters and baggage halls, the change is far less noticeable. Digital signage reflects the switch, but many physical signs and infrastructure still refer to its old name of Palm Beach International (PBI). There is no clear timeline of when, or even if, new signs will be installed and PBI fully becomes DJT, the three-letter airport code using the president’s initials that will be its formal aviation industry designation starting on 18 August.
DeSantis is such a weasel: A state law signed in March by Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor and intermittent Trump ally, mandated the name change on a reluctant county commission, which voted 4-3 in May to approve a trademark deal with the Trump Organizaiton as some members feared consequences if they did not. But Florida’s $117.7bn budget signed off by DeSantis last month contained only $2.75m to fund the switch, half of the estimated $5.5m overall cost. And Palm Beach county is refusing to make up the shortfall, with some commissioners insisting taxpayers cannot and should not be left on the hook.
Mixed messages: “We will be able to make the baseline, necessary changes to signage with the $2,750,000. But for the full extensive signage, we will be needing the other half of those funds from the state,” Joseph Abruzzo, the county administrator, told the Miami Herald. … A statement on the airport’s website, meanwhile, says that, beyond the $2.75m received in state money: “The remaining costs will be funded through the [Palm Beach county] Department of Airports’ operating budget and capital improvement program.” It is an apparent contradiction to Abruzzo’s remarks to the media last week that no county money will be used, and has raised fears among some critics that funds earmarked for safety and other crucial improvements at the department’s four airports, which include Palm Beach international, will be siphoned off to support Trump’s glorification.
Money meant to improve safety at the airport could now be redirected to printing new signs for an unnecessary (and unwanted) name change? We really need an administration to form some kind of department to ensure inefficiency like this doesn’t happen in our government. [insert eyeroll here] My deepest condolences to the sane and democracy-loving residents of Palm Beach County, some of whom are fighting back via the courts. A retired pilot has sued against the rebrand, arguing that changing an airport’s identifier (in this case, from PBI to DJT), is an obvious safety hazard in the making. Meanwhile a trademark attorney, Victoria Doyle, has filed suit herself with very strong words on the matter: “Trump’s ego is going to demand upgrades to that airport as fast as possible. He’s going to want it to be the best, most beautiful, most gold-laden airport on earth, and we could be on the hook.” Yup.
