Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, officially became the President Donald J. Trump International Airport on Thursday, making it the first commercial airport in the United States to be named after a sitting president. New signage is being installed across the terminal, replacing the old branding, though airport officials noted that both the classic and new visual elements will coexist for several weeks during the transition. The airport's three-letter code will also change, from PBI to DJT — the president's initials — on 18 August.
The symbolic first arrival under the new name came in the early hours of Thursday morning, when "Trump Force One," a Boeing 757 owned by The Trump Organization and often described as a nod to Air Force One, the official aircraft of the US president, touched down shortly after 5 a.m. Among the passengers was Eric Trump, the president's son, who posted his approval on X, calling his father "the person who has done more for Florida and our country" and saying he would be proud to see the initials DJT on his boarding passes. The Trump family frequently uses the West Palm Beach airport when visiting Mar-a-Lago, the president's private estate located in nearby Palm Beach. A connecting road between the airport and the estate was renamed Donald J. Trump Boulevard earlier this year. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the legislation enabling the airport renaming in late March. The cost of the rebranding — covering new signs, updated materials and other changes — is estimated at up to $5.5 million.
The airport rename is part of a broader and accelerating pattern of public assets being associated with the sitting president. Trump's portrait has appeared on national park passes, his signature features on newly issued dollar bills, and the US Institute of Peace now bears his name. His portrait was also placed on the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., though that renaming became the subject of a legal dispute and his name was subsequently removed. Also on Thursday, a ceremony was held in Dandridge, Tennessee — a small town in Jefferson County in the eastern part of the state, where Trump received 82% of the vote in the 2024 election — to rename an Interstate 40 bridge the Donald J. Trump Bridge. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attended alongside several Republican senators and a representative.
The wave of honours breaks with the longstanding American tradition of reserving such tributes for former, rather than sitting, presidents. Reaction among ordinary travellers has been muted. One departing passenger told reporters he did not believe Trump had earned the distinction but added that, ultimately, "it's just the name of an airport" and felt there were more pressing concerns to focus on. Whether the renamings will prove durable — given the mixed legal fortunes of efforts like the Kennedy Center — remains an open question.