Trump wants his name on Penn Station and Dulles Airport in latest push to rebrand transportation hubs

Donald Trump reportedly wants New York’s Penn Station and Washington-Dulles International Airport renamed after him.

The president and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer had been bargaining over the New York/New Jersey Gateway Tunnel Project when Trump made the audacious proposal, according to Politico.

The Trump administration froze $16billion in funding for the project, which would build a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, in November.

Administration officials offered to unfreeze the funds if the two hubs were renamed in his honor, Politico reported.  

A source close to Schumer told the outlet: ‘There was nothing to trade. The president stopped the funding and he can restart the funding with a snap of his fingers.’

New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s press office trolled the idea, posting an image of Trump Tower in Manhattan renamed ‘Hochul Tower’ with the caption: ‘Counteroffer.’ 

‘These naming rights aren’t tradable as part of any negotiations, and neither is the dignity of New Yorkers,’ Senator Kristen Gillibrand said in a statement. 

‘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.’ 

The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House, Senator Schumer and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill for comment.

Trump most recently renamed the Kennedy Center in part after himself, changing the name to the Trump-Kennedy Center in December. 

The president has since announced that the center will be closing for two years of renovations on July 4. 

The Gateway Tunnel Project money has been frozen since the early days of the government shutdown in September. 

Schumer was a long holdout on ending the shutdown and had terse negotiations with Trump.  

The White House budget director, Russ Vought, said on the social platform X at the time that officials believed the spending was based on unconstitutional diversity, equity and inclusion principles, and the US Department of Transportation said it was reviewing any ‘unconstitutional practices.’

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan by New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, asks a judge to declare the funding suspension unlawful and order payments to resume immediately so construction can continue without interruption. 

‘Allowing this project to stop would put one of the country’s most heavily used transit corridors at risk,’ James said in a statement Tuesday evening. 

‘Our tunnels are already under strain, and losing this project could be disastrous for commuters, workers, and our regional economy.’

The US Transportation Department did not immediately return emails seeking comment Tuesday night.

A similar lawsuit over the tunnel funding was filed Monday against the federal government by the Gateway Development Commission, a local panel overseeing the project.

The construction project calls for building a new rail tunnel under the river to carry Amtrak and area transit trains between New Jersey and New York City, as well as repairing an existing, 116-year-old rail tunnel that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Work began in 2023. The project is funded by the 2021 federal infrastructure law signed by Democratic President Joe Biden.