Trump demands airport be named after him in exchange for federal funding

U.S. President Donald Trump sits behind a bill he signed to end the partial government shutdown, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 3, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

President Donald Trump is now saying he'll allow several billion dollars to flow to New York on one condition — that he be able to add his name to major landmarks.

CNN reported Thursday that Trump communicated to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that he would be willing to lift his hold on $16 billion for a long-planned railway project connecting New York and New Jersey underneath the Hudson River. However, the president said he would only release the money if Washington Dulles International Airport (which is in Virginia) and Penn Station in New York were renamed for him.

Two unnamed sources told CNN that Schumer "swiftly rejected" Trump's demand, and reminded the White House that he lacked the power to unilaterally change the names of both locations. The two reportedly discussed the proposition last month, per CNN's reporting.

"Trump’s offer to Schumer would have represented perhaps his most audacious move yet," CNN's Manu Raju and Adam Cancryn reported. "While some conservative lawmakers have already introduced legislation to rename Dulles as the “Donald J. Trump International Airport,” it’s so far gained little traction."

Both New Jersey and New York are suing the Trump administration over the holdup in funding, which is part of the administration's pattern of withholding Congressionally appropriated money to states that didn't vote for Trump in the 2024 election. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought announced in October the administration was holding up another $8 billion in clean energy projects in 18 blue states.

Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution specifically grants Congress — not the president — the power to appropriate tax dollars. The Trump administration's blockade of federal funding is specifically in violation of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which Congress passed during the Nixon administration to re-assert its constitutional role over the appropriations process.

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