Donald J. Trump Airport In Dulles? Patch Readers Weigh In On Proposal

WASHINGTON, DC — In overwhelming numbers, Patch readers said they did not support the idea of renaming Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia after former President Donald Trump.

A group of Republican members of Congress introduced the following bill on March 29 in the U.S. House of Representatives:

"The Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia shall after the date of the enactment of this Act be known and designated as the 'Donald J. Trump International Airport.' If enacted, the bill would also require all laws, regulations, maps, documents, papers or other records to identify the airport as "Donald J. Trump International Airport."

On Thursday, Patch asked readers to complete an unscientific, online survey and share their opinions on the legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pennsylvania).

Of the 2,526 responses received, 2,333 readers (92.4 percent) said they disagreed with the idea that Washington Dulles International Airport needs to be renamed; 193 readers (7.6 percent) said the airport should change its name to honor Trump.

In response to the GOP bill, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia), who represents Fairfax County, introduced his own piece of legislation last week that proposed changing the Miami Federal Correctional Institution in Florida to the Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution.

"There's a nice little federal penitentiary right near Mar-A-Lago," Connolly said on MSNBC's The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart. "For a guy who now has 88 criminal indictments pending plus two major civil penalty trials that have already been resolved, costing him about half a billion dollars, I think it's only fitting that if Republicans really want to honor Donald Trump, the most appropriate way to do that is to name a federal prison he might be visiting soon after Donald J. Trump."

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California), who was also on The Sunday Show, joked that Trump might even endorse Connolly's bill. "I don't think there's a building he wouldn't want his name on," he said.

"I think it's only fitting that if Republicans really want to honor Donald Trump, the most appropriate way to do that is to name a federal prison" @GerryConnolly shares his response to the GOP wanting to rename Dulles International airport after Trump #SundayShow pic.twitter.com/BOFQN9l981
— The Saturday/Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart (@weekendcapehart) April 7, 2024

If the airport were to be given a new name, Patch asked readers whether it should be renamed for Trump. The responses were similar: 2,369 readers (93.8 percent) said "No," compared to 157 readers (6.2 percent) who said "Yes."

Related: Should Dulles Airport Be Renamed For Donald Trump? Patch Survey

Patch readers suggested a long list of alternative names for the airport, if it were to be renamed. The suggestions included former Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama and Joe Biden; politicians John Warner, Mitt Romney, John McCain and former Secretary of State Colin Powell; former U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor; and former First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Melania Trump.

Aviation-inspired names included the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, NASA scientist Katherine Johnson and Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who ditched U.S. Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River in 2009.

Several civil rights leaders as well as people who fought to free enslaved Americans were suggested, such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.

One reader suggested Finnish-American architect and industrial designer Eero Saarinen, who designed Dulles Airport as well as The Arch in St. Louis.

Other suggested names included Chef Jose Andres, who founded the World Central Kitchen; Elon Musk and Donald Duck.

U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pennsylvania), who is the chief deputy majority whip, is co-sponsoring the GOP legislation with Reps. Michael Waltz (R-Florida), Andrew Ogles (R-Tennessee), Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tennessee), Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) Barry Moore (R-Alabama) and Troy Nehls (R-Texas).

President John F. Kennedy participated in the Nov. 17, 1962 ceremony that dedicated the airport in memory of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, according to FlyDulles.com. The airport went by the name Washington Dulles Airport until 1984, when "international" was added.