Donald Trump Reveals Plan to ‘Rebuild’ the ‘Terrible’ Washington Dulles Airport

President Donald Trump says his administration plans to “rebuild” Washington Dulles International Airport, one of the country’s largest air travel hubs, which he criticized as “terrible.”

“We’re also going to rebuild [Washington] Dulles Airport because it’s not a good airport, it should be a great airport,” the president said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2. “It’s not a good airport at all, it’s a terrible airport.”

Dulles Airport (IAD), located in Virginia about 25 miles from Washington, D.C., sits on roughly 12,000 acres of land, making it one of the largest airports in the United States. It currently serves more than 23 million passengers each year.

Trump argued that the facility was “incorrectly designed” but said it still has “a good building,” specifically praising the “beautiful terminal” created by architect Eero Saarinen.

“We’re going to make Dulles Airport — serving Washington, Virginia, Maryland, etc. — we’re going to make that into something really spectacular,” he said. “We have an amazing plan for it.”

The president then turned to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who addressed a recent incident at the airport. On Nov. 10, 18 people were taken to the hospital after a mobile lounge, commonly known as a “people mover,” struck a dock.

“It’s not a great airport, which we can make great in this administration,” Duffy said, adding that more details would be announced soon.

In a statement, a representative for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said they expect to share more information “after discussions with federal officials.”

According to an airport satisfaction survey from J.D. Power released in September, Dulles ranked 23rd out of 27 large airports in North America. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport ranked 20th.

The prospect of a major rebuild sparked mixed reactions online.

“Terminal C & D were built as temporary facilities, essentially a bunch of trailers strapped together,” one user on X said. “It’s awful.”

Others pushed back, arguing that Dulles is already a strong option for travelers. “I fly out of Dulles every time I travel and not Reagan specifically because it’s so much nicer and easy to navigate,” a Bluesky user wrote. “He cannot stop himself from creating problems where there aren’t any.”

Separate from Trump’s proposal, expansion work at the airport is already underway.

In July, local outlet WJLA reported that construction crews at Dulles installed the final beam for a new concourse scheduled to open in September 2026. The new “Concourse E” will serve United Airlines flights, both domestic and international.