Skepticism has been rampant about President Donald Trump's claim that neither he nor his family will profit from an airport set to be renamed after him. This week, a new report has emerged revealing the sketchy loophole he is set to use to cash in on the change, despite his insistence to the contrary.
As MS NOW producer Steve Benen noted on Wednesday, Trump had previously wanted to rename Dulles International Airport after himself, as part of his wider crusade to slap his own name on everything he possibly can while still president. When that fell through, he got a consolation prize from Republicans in Florida.
"In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed a bill to rename Palm Beach International Airport after Trump, as part of a larger, partisan glorification crusade that has reinforced concerns that much of the GOP has turned into a personality cult," Benen explained.
Trump and his family members, who maintain control over The Trump Organization, have previously claimed that they would not be seeking to profit from the newly renamed airport. Aside from the natural skepticism surrounding that claim, given Trump's well-established love of grifting off his own name, observers also doubted that claim because of several trademarks registered prior to the vote approving the change.
"Shortly before GOP state legislators advanced the renaming proposal, the Trump Organization filed trademark applications for 'President Donald J. Trump International Airport' and 'Donald J. Trump International Airport,' as well as the possible 'DJT' airport code," Benen detailed. "Obvious questions soon followed. For example, would the president’s family business try to profit from Florida’s decision to rename the Palm Beach International Airport after him, either through royalties or licensing fees?"
A report published earlier this week by the New York Times shed damning new light on the deal, including the loophole through which Trump and his family appear set to exploit the new airport. According to a lawyer who reviewed materials related to the deal, Trump is still free to collect licensing fees associated with the airport, as long as they are from businesses outside of the airport.
"Under the new agreement, the Trump family won’t profit from branded merchandise sold at the airport," the Times revealed. "But the agreement does not prevent the family from profiting off any such merchandise sold outside the airport’s premises, according to Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer... And it requires the airport to pick a vendor to provide any branded merchandise from a list approved by the Trump family business."
Furthermore, Trump and his family will maintain "control over any biographical material presented at the airport, or on airport materials."
As Benen noted further, Palm Beach County commissioners involved in the deal signed off on this agreement just one day after receiving it, "suggesting there was no thoughtful or deliberative process."
"In case this isn’t obvious, when Republicans renamed an airport after Ronald Reagan, there was no similar deal with the late president’s family," he added. "The same was true when officials named an airport in New York after John F. Kennedy. But as is too often the case, Trump, his family, his family business and the partisans who cater to his ego prefer to play by their own set of rules."
