President Donald Trump reportedly told lawmakers he would consider unfreezing federal money for a major rail tunnel project — but only if two high-profile transportation hubs were renamed in his honor.
According to multiple reports, the Trump administration floated a proposal to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: rename Virginia’s Dulles International Airport and New York City’s Penn Station after the sitting president, and in return, the administration would resume funding for the long-delayed tunnel project linking New York and New Jersey.
Punchbowl News first reported the alleged offer, with CNN, NBC News and Politico later saying they corroborated the account through their own sources.
Schumer rejected the idea, according to the outlets.
“There was nothing to trade,” a person close to Schumer told Politico. “The president stopped the funding and he can restart the funding with a snap of his fingers.”
The White House was contacted for comment.
The Trump administration terminated funding for the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel Project during last fall’s government shutdown. Although the historically long shutdown ended in November, the funds have remained frozen.
New York and New Jersey have sued the Trump administration over the move, with their complaint alleging the suspension is unlawful, per CNN.
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New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Appropriations Committee, blasted the reported request in a statement on Thursday, Feb. 5, calling it “ridiculous.”
“These naming rights aren’t tradable as part of any negotiations, and neither is the dignity of New Yorkers,” Gillibrand said. “At a time when New Yorkers are already being crushed by high costs under the Trump tariffs, the president continues to put his own narcissism over the good-paying union jobs this project provides and the extraordinary economic impact the Gateway tunnel will bring.”
“I demand that president put people first and unfreeze this project and all the others his administration has been holding hostage for his personal gain,” she added.
Trump’s reported insistence on renaming Dulles Airport and Penn Station would not be the first time he has pushed to stamp his name onto major institutions or initiatives.
In December of last year, he put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, changing signage to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. That same month, Trump’s handpicked Kennedy Center board of trustees voted to add his name to the national arts venue, so that it’s called The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
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On Thursday, the president launched a website, called TrumpRx, that claims to offer lower-cost prescription medication, though it will not prescribe or sell drugs directly to the patient. The platform may save money for those who are paying out-of-pocket, but will not offer much benefit for those with private insurance or Medicaid, NBC News previously reported.
He had previously put his face on annual National Parks passes, and launched an alternative green card program called the Trump Gold Card, which allows rich foreigners to buy residency in the United States with a $1,000,000 donation and $15,000 processing fee.
