Trump Stands to Profit Off Naming Palm Beach, FL Airport After Him
NEWS & RESEARCH
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced in July 2026 that Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) has been renamed the “President Donald J. Trump International Airport,” positioning Trump to gain significant financial profit. Although attached to a publicly-owned facility, the airport name and code (DJT) are legally owned by Trump's family business, which filed trademark applications for them back in February, weeks before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill authorizing the change. The cost of renaming the airport, though, will likely fall to the public. Rebranding the signs, maps, and other airport materials is expected to run roughly $5.5 million, and DeSantis has already allocated $2.75 million of the state budget to help cover it. Other airports have been named after U.S. presidents as well, but Trump is the first to receive the honor while still in office, and no other president's family has trademarked the name to profit from it. The airport, though, is but the latest addition to a growing list of places that Trump has had renamed after himself: A bridge in Tennessee took his name on the same day as the announcement.
SOURCES: New York Times | Time | NPR | NBC | US News
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Trump has long faced accusations of profiting off the presidency, and the Palm Beach airport renaming looks poised to boost not just his ego but also his bottom line. On paper, the licensing agreement bars Trump from collecting "royalties, fees, or revenue" on merchandise sold by the county or airport retailers, but legal experts point out that there is a clear loophole. The license is non-exclusive, so the Trump Organization can freely license the airport’s name to third parties for its own profit. This means that there could be Donald J. Trump airport lounges, snack bars, passenger shuttles, and more. The family could also produce goods bearing the airport's new name, including watches, suitcases, collectible coins, and, according to the agreement, even "plastic slippers used in the airport environment when going through security to keep feet and socks clean." The specificity of the trademark applications is revealing, as this was likely not simply an honorary renaming, but rather, a commercial venture, mapped out in advance. Meanwhile, the deal hands Trump leverage in subtler ways, too. It requires that airport merchandise be "purchased through approved retailers," which means that, as trademark attorney Josh Gerben puts it, "whoever's making it has to be approved by Trump." Also concerning is that Trump gets to control how his "name, likeness, image and biographical information" show up throughout the airport—a degree of control that could drive up the cost of the renaming even further. As Gerben explains, "if [Trump and his family] don't like the expression on Trump's face on a picture that the airport plans to use, they're going to have to find another picture. If they don't like some language that describes Trump or his presidency … they'll have to rewrite it again." The result is a public airport whose name, merchandise, manufacturers, and even imagery all run through a sitting president's private company—a setup Gerben calls "completely unprecedented."
HOW TO FIX IT
Federal action:
Pass the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego (SERVE) Act, which bars naming or renaming any federal building, land, or other asset after a sitting president and prohibits the use of federal funds to do so. Similar bills, including the Federal Property Integrity Act and the Earn It First Act, would establish the same prohibition, but the SERVE Act goes further by also applying retroactively—reverting the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace, which Trump named after himself during his term, to their original names.
However, none of these bills would have stopped the Palm Beach Airport name change, because PBI is owned by the county, not the federal government. Nevertheless, the airport still takes federal money through FAA grants, and that money comes with rules attached. Congress could add one more: require that any airport taking federal funds can't be named after a sitting official or carry a trademark that official owns. That would close the exact gap this deal slipped through.
Pass comprehensive conflict-of-interest legislation. The new law should: (1) require the president, vice president, and their immediate families to disclose and divest conflicting financial interests, as the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Accountability Act proposes; and (2) define "relatives" broadly to include adult children, siblings, and in-laws, as the bipartisan Presidential Ethics Reform Act of 2024 would do. Both parts matter here. Trump never sold his businesses when he took office—he put them in a trust he still controls and profits from, while his sons run them day to day. The first requirement would force him to actually give that up; the second is needed because the airport trademarks sit with his sons' company, DTTM Operations, which only a broad definition of "relatives" would reach.
Pass a bill that would bar any sitting federal official—or a company they hold a financial stake in—from owning or licensing trademarks tied to the name of a public asset. Instead, those rights would have to be handed over to the public entity itself for $1, royalty-free and non-transferable to third parties.
State action:
Pass state legislation prohibiting the naming of public buildings, roads, and other facilities after living persons. Similar laws already exist in Minnesota and Louisiana, though Louisiana permits exemptions on a case-by-case basis.
Repeal Florida's HB 919, the 2026 law authorizing the renaming—although this remains unlikely at present, as the bill passed along party lines and Republicans still control both the governorship and the Legislature.
Litigation:
Poncy v. Florida: This suit argues the renaming could create safety and communication risks for pilots and air traffic controllers, and that because the airport is owned by Palm Beach County, the state overstepped its authority by forcing the change from above, violating the county's right to govern its own property. A win could establish that a state can't rename a locally owned airport over the county's head, and undo the change here.
Doyle v. Palm Beach County: Filed by trademark attorney and congressional candidate Victoria Doyle, this suit challenges the county commission's 4–3 vote to approve the licensing agreement with Trump and seeks to halt all implementation until the Poncy case is resolved. Doyle argues the deal was pushed through without letting county residents vote on the future of an airport they own, and that it clears the way for Trump to sell airport-branded merchandise anywhere for his own profit. A win could void the licensing agreement—cutting off the profit loophole at the center of this deal.
Legislation: S.3622- Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego (SERVE) Act | H.R.6926 - Federal Property Integrity Act | H.R.8388 - Earn It First Act | H.R.7207 - Presidential Conflicts of Interest Accountability Act | H.R. 8489 - Presidential Ethics Reform Act | Minnesota Statute § 10.49 | LA RS § 42:267 (Louisiana)
