A legislative proposal in the Florida statehouse could soon see the Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) renamed “Donald J. Trump International Airport” in honor of Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States and a resident of Palm Beach County. According to Fox News, the bill is drafted by state representative Meg Weinberger, who is a resident of Palm Beach too. It was filed in early November 2025 and seeks to rename the airport as part of a broader recognition of Trump’s local ties and presidential status.
| Palm Beach Airport | Description |
|---|---|
| ICAO Code | KPBI |
| Location | West Palm Beach, Florida, USA |
| Owner/Operator | Palm Beach County Department of Airports |
| Area | ~2,120 acres (~858 ha) |
| Number of Runways | 3 |
| Largest Runway | 10L/28R, 10,001 ft × 150 ft (3,048 m × 46 m) |
| Rank | The “best in the U.S.” for shortest overall TSA wait times by U.S. Customs and Border Protection |
| May 2023 – May 2014 | Over eight million [this was a record-breaking year] |
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Background of Renaming Palm Beach Airport to Donald Trump Airport
This is not the first time that an airport has been proposed to be named after Donald Trump. At the beginning of 2025, a legislation was introduced by Rep. Addison McDowell of North Carolina, along with other House Republicans, to name Dulles International Airport in Virginia after President Trump.
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Republican Representative Meg Weinberger’s statement said:
“President Trump is the most consequential president of our lifetime and a resident of Palm Beach County, which makes it only fitting to honor him, like many other presidents before him, by naming our airport Donald J. Trump International,”
Renaming Palm Beach Airport after Trump: Historical Precedents
The Palm Beach Airport wasn’t always named so. The aerodrome was initially christened as “Morrison Field”, out as named for Grace K. Morrison, reported the airport:
“PBI began in 1936 when it was known as Morrison Field. It was named for Miss Grace K. Morrison, who was a pioneer in the early planning and organizing, which culminated in the establishment of the field. The inaugural airline flight was made by a New York-bound Eastern Air Lines DC-2 in 1936. Eastern’s daily northbound flights departed in Miami, landed at West Palm Beach and 11 other cities and arrived in New York 13-1/2 hours after leaving Morrison Field. The field was officially dedicated and opened on December 19, 1936 with nothing more than the strip itself and a small administration building.”
After World War II began, the U.S. began a significant defense expansion, quietly preparing military infrastructure,a dn the airport evolved:
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In November 1940, the U.S. Army Air Corps started converting Morrison Field for military operations, officially activating it in 1941.
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Commercial and private flights were redirected to Lantana Airport, located six miles south of Morrison Field.
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Following Pearl Harbor, Morrison Field processed approximately 6,200 aircraft and 45,000 personnel as part of Allied preparations for the invasion of France.
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Many servicemen and aircraft departed from Morrison Field to participate in the D-Day Normandy invasion.
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In 1947, the Air Transport Command operations moved to Mobile, Alabama, leading to the deactivation of Morrison Field on June 30, 1947.
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By September 1947, Palm Beach County repurposed the former Air Force operations building on the airport’s north side into a passenger terminal.
After it was decided by the county that an internationally recognizable name would help with the inflow of tourists to the place, on August 11, it was decided that the airport be renamed as Palm Beach International Airport. While Palm Beach might be renamed after DJT, there have been plenty of airports in the USA renamed after presidents. let’s have a look at some of them:
| Airport (Current Name) | Former Name | Date of Renaming | Honoured President |
|---|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York, NY | New York International Airport / Idlewild Airport | December 24, 1963 (two days after JFK’s assassination) | John F. Kennedy |
| George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Houston, TX | Houston Intercontinental Airport | ||
| Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Arlington/ Washington, D.C. | Washington National Airport | February 6, 1998 | Ronald Reagan |
| Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport (LIT), Little Rock, AR | Adams Field | March 20, 2012 | Bill & Hillary Clinton |
| Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT), Wichita, KS | Wichita Mid‑Continent Airport | January 26, 2014 (or late 2014 recognised) | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (SPI), Springfield, IL | Springfield–Capital Airport? (likely, and the airport might have had various earlier names) | Date unspecified in source | Abraham Lincoln |
| Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport (DIK), Dickinson, ND | Dickinson Airport (likely) | Date unspecified in the source presidentsusa.net | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR), Grand Rapids, MI | Kent County International Airport (likely) | NA | Gerald R. Ford |
| John F. Kennedy Memorial Airport (ASX), Ashland, WI | Ashland County Airport (likely) | NA | John F. Kennedy |
| Jimmy Carter Regional Airport (ACJ), Americus, GA | Southern Field (likely) | 2009–2010 approximate period | Jimmy Carter |
This table illustrates that renaming major U.S. airports after presidents is not unprecedented; however, the timing and politics around the PBI proposal render it distinctive.
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Will PBI renamed as DJT: Exploring the Possibilities
Many critics have called President Trump one of the most divisive presidents in the history of the USA. He lifted a ban on supersonic travel over the grounds of the USA, giving the aviation sector a push in the field of developing supersonic airliners such as Concorde.
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There have not been a lot of comments about the whole issue from the wider public, though. A couple of people were quoted in NewsABC 12: the two were at loggerheads. One, who loved the president was onboard with the move, while the other did not want the love to go through.
The Floridian, however, expects the move to go through
“Rep. Weinbeger co-sponsored a bill, HB 987, back in February to rename a four-mile stretch of Southern Boulevard between Kirk Road and South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach County after the current and former president. The road is also near Palm Beach National Airport and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club. Trump became a permanent resident of Florida in 2019 after residing in New York City. With Republicans holding a majority in the Florida state legislature, expect Weinberger’s legislative measure to pass with flying colors.”
While hardcore Trump supporters might want PBI to be renamed as DJT, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) govern monitors code consistency and database updates — notably the IATA code “PBI” would continue. After all, the IATA code of the Houston Airport wasn’t changed into GWB after being renamed after George W. Bush.