Attorneys for President Donald Trump have filed to trademark the phrase “Donald J. Trump International Airport” as Florida lawmakers move toward renaming the Palm Beach airport in his honor.
Florida lawmakers on Feb. 17 moved closer to placing Trump’s name on the Palm Beach International Airport. The Republican-controlled House voted 81-30 in support of the name change to President Donald J. Trump International Airport (HB 919) as a similar measure moved to the Senate floor after clearing the Rules Committee (SB 706).
“This is the President’s hometown, he lives five miles away from the airport,” said bill co-sponsor Rep. Meg Weinberger, R-Palm Beach Gardens.
ew filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ‒ which Trump controls ‒ show that attorneys have also filed to trademark “President Donald J. Trump International Airport” and “DJT,” a reference to the president’s initials.
Typically, holding a trademark allows someone to license that use for a fee, but Trump’s trademark attorney said that’s not what’s happening here. Instead, said Michael Santucci of the Fort Lauderdale-based 500Law, the president is protecting his legal rights to prevent bad actors from misusing what he called “the most infringed trademark in the world.”
Santucci said the president is deeply honored by the pending Palm Beach International Airport renaming. The measure has received initial approval by legislative committees, but has not yet been passed into law.
“To be clear, the president and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee, or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming,” Santucci said in a message to USA TODAY. “The Trump Organization is, and always has been, willing to provide this right to his hometown county at no charge.”
In Tallahassee, St. Augustine Republican Kim Kendall, a former air traffic controller who also co-sponsored the bill, said Trump deserves the recognition for airport infrastructure investments his administration has made in the past year to modernize facilities.
Stuart Republican Rep. John Snyder said, “With the renaming of this bill, after we all vote yes, it will officially become a great airport.”
Democrats, though, said the renaming should wait until Trump is out of office as they raised issues with his past conduct, which includes two House impeachments and 34 felony convictions in New York for falsifying business records.
“The legacy that I’ve seen so far has left me wanting,” said Rep. Ashley Gantt, D-Miami.
Weinberger asserted there was no collaboration between lawmakers and Trump’s company on the name change and the family has agreed “to completely waive the trademark for the Trump name to Palm Beach International.”
Renaming PBIA for Trump could cost nearly $6M
The Palm Beach Post reported earlier this month that it could cost nearly $6 million to rebrand PBIA in honor of Trump.
A Florida House panel approved the name change Jan. 28, a day after a similar bill cleared its first hearing in the state Senate. The bill assigns to the state the naming rights for major commercial service airports in Florida. The legislation specifically states that PBIA would be changed to Donald J. Trump International Airport. No other major airport in the statewould have its name changed at this time.
The bill seems to “negatively affect local government spending related to renaming the airport,” according to an analysis by the Florida House. However, the analysis does not specify any figures regarding the monetary impact.
Rebeca Krogman, a PBIA spokesperson, wrote in an email response to a query from The Palm Beach Post that the rebranding costs are expected to be about $5.5 million. Beyond signs, she said a name change would involve expenses to update uniforms, vehicle and equipment markings, credentials, promotional materials, printed documents and digital assets such as the airport website.
A review by The Post of changes undertaken by other U.S. airports who have changed their names also included:
Jim Turner of News Service of Florida and Palm Beach Post reporter Mike Diamond contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump’s team trademarks Trump airport name amid renaming push
Reporting by Trevor Hughes, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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