Trump promises Schumer funding for NY tunnel project -- if Penn Station and Dulles Airport are renamed after him

[LetMyPeopleVote]

CNN is reporting this attempt of trump extorting Senator Schumer to get major facilities renamed for trump. I am shocked that trump did not ask for his face to be added to Mount Rushmore

BREAKING 🚨 🚨 🚨

Trump promises Schumer funding for NY tunnel project if Penn Station and Dulles Airport are renamed after him

The startling offer, which was described by two people familiar with the conversation, was swiftly rejected by Schumer.

www.cnn.com/2026/02/05/p...

— Lauren Ashley Davis (@laurenmeidasa.bsky.social) 2026-02-05T23:51:06.799Z

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/05/politics/schumer-trump-ny-funding-rename

President Donald Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last month that he was finally prepared to drop his freeze on billions of dollars in funding for a major New York infrastructure project.

But there was a condition: In exchange for the money, Schumer had to agree to rename New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles International Airport after Trump.

The startling offer, which was described by two people familiar with the conversation, was swiftly rejected by Schumer, who told the president he didn’t have the power to deliver on such an unorthodox request.

In the weeks since, Trump has continued to withhold the more than $16 billion earmarked for the long-planned Gateway project connecting New York and New Jersey through a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River.....

Trump in recent months has set his sights on even bigger targets: Adding his name first to the US Institute of Peace and then, even more controversially, to Washington’s iconic Kennedy Center.

Still, Trump’s offer to Schumer would have represented perhaps his most audacious move yet. While some conservative lawmakers have already introduced legislation to rename Dulles as the “Donald J. Trump International Airport,” it’s so far gained little traction.

[Qutzupalotl]

1. The Trump-Epstein Airport?

Pedophile Tunnel?

[leftstreet]

5. Trump Dullest Airport

I'd make the plaques in gold script. Trump classy

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Counteroffer: Name some Superfund sites after him.

He probably doesn't know what "Superfund" means, but it sounds really important -- it's got "super" in it! -- so he might go for it.

[walkingman]

3. Not no, but Hell No!

[a kennedy]

4. This is the Onion right???

And as was mentioned previously, AH, HELL NO!!!!!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. That is why I pulled the CNN article

If this was not reported by a real news source, I would question whether it was satire

[LuvLoogie]

7. Why do I think it's 50/50 he'll take the deal.

Every time Schumer capitulates, trump renegs and sets Schumer up for another sucker pose.

[flvegan]

8. Okay, but Pedo Station and Fuckface Airport sound kinda stupid. n/t

[Emile]

9. Schumer have the authority to do that?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. 'Mortifying': Fury as Trump demands Dulles and Penn Station renamed after himself

I was actually surprised when I saw this account. trump wants to name everything after himself. Again, the next thing that I expect will be for trump to demand that he be added to the Mount Rushmore

'Mortifying': Fury as Trump demands Dulles and Penn Station renamed after himself - Raw Story www.rawstory.com/trump-dulles...

— Sue Stone (@knittingknots.bsky.social) 2026-02-06T00:40:00.595Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-dulles-airport/

A new report that President Donald Trump wants to slap his name on Washington Dulles International Airport, ignited swift backlash on social media.

Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News shared on X a link to their new reporting that Trump wants his name on both Dulles and Penn Station.

"Trump admin asked [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer] to support his renaming Washington-Dulles and Penn Station after TRUMP. TRUMP would release funding for Gateway project in exchange," Sherman wrote on X.

The report comes amid recent legislative proposals to rename Dulles as "Donald J. Trump International Airport" that were introduced by Republicans, including Rep. Addison McDowell (NC), last month. It also comes amid reports of potential redevelopment plans for Dulles, including an architectural proposal that suggests a "Donald J. Trump Terminal" as part of a major redesign featuring a "Grand Arch."

The news led to immediate backlash.

Janice Hough, a supporter of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) chided on X, "What a petty narcissistic little tyrant Donald is. Chuck, you are old enough to know - NEVER negotiate with toddlers or terrorists."

Travel guide Jeremy Wilcox wrote on X, "Another thing unimaginable a decade ago, now a third-tier political story: The US President holds the nation's most vital infrastructure project hostage, unless the Senate agrees to name even more government buildings after him."

Eli Cousin, who handles mid-Atlantic communications for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, wrote on X, "What a f---ing joke. Does vulnerable NJ Republican @CongressmanKean support holding up Gateway funding unless Penn Station and Dulles Airport are renamed after Donald Trump?"

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. MaddowBlog-Trump said he'll release federal funds if officials rename Dulles Airport, Penn Station after him

The president’s obsession with self-glorification is old hat, but his tactics regarding the Gateway infrastructure project are new.

Trump’s Gateway tunnel pitch sounds an awful lot like extortion: If Democrats want to save the project, restore the funds, and prevent the job losses, they’ll have to indulge his self-glorification obsession.

Articles of impeachment have been introduced over less.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-06T14:07:04.902Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-gateway-federal-funds-rename-dulles-penn-station

It’s also run out of money — not because of mismanagement or budget overruns, but because Donald Trump and his team announced last fall that they would pause the federal funds that had already been approved for the project. (The ostensible reason: The Republican administration wants to know whether contracts were awarded with “diversity, equity and inclusion” considerations in mind.).....

The good news is that the president recently signaled a willingness to release the resources that would allow work to continue. The bad news is the specific condition he has in mind. Punchbowl News reported:

President Donald Trump offered to release the funding for the massive Gateway infrastructure project if Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer agrees to support renaming both Washington-Dulles International Airport and New York’s Penn Station after Trump.

The Trump administration directly made the request of Schumer, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

.....For those keeping score, Trump and his allies have now applied the president’s name to the Kennedy Center and to the Institute of Peace, announced the construction of “Trump-class” battleships, unveiled a commemorative legal-tender coin that will feature his face on both sides and have launched “Trump Gold Cards,” “Trump Accounts” and “TrumpRx” (the government’s new drug-pricing website). By some accounts, the president wants the forthcoming White House ballroom to be named after him, too.....

The president’s pitch is, for all intents and purposes, an attempt at extortion: If Democrats want to save the infrastructure project and prevent the job losses, they must indulge the president’s obsession with self-aggrandizement and self-glorification.

Articles of impeachment have been introduced over less.

“This is ridiculous,” Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said in a statement. “These naming rights aren’t tradable as part of any negotiations, and neither is the dignity of New Yorkers. 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.”

She added, “I demand that the president put people first and unfreeze this project and all the others his administration has been holding hostage for his personal gain.”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. 'Absolute lie': Dem leader calls out Trump's claim he suggested 'Trump Station'

trump is trying to blame the proposal to change the names of Dulles Airport and Penn Central Station on Senator Schumer. This is a typical trump lie to try to shift the blame to someone else. There is no way that Senator Schumer made this proposal

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer didn't waste any time firing back at President Donald Trump on Friday over claims that it was the New York Democrat who suggested renaming New York Penn Station and Washington Dulles International Airport after Trump.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-07T14:01:06Z

https://www.rawstory.com/dulles-trump/

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer didn’t waste any time firing back at President Donald Trump on Friday over claims that it was the New York Democrat who suggested renaming New York Penn Station and Washington Dulles International Airport after Trump.

“Chuck Schumer suggested that to me about changing the name of Penn Station to Trump Station,” the MAGA leader reportedly said while speaking to reporters on Air Force One.

But Schumer fiercely rejected that premise.

“Absolute lie,” Schumer wrote in a post on X. “He knows it. Everyone knows it. Only one man can restart the project and he can restart it with the snap of his fingers.”

The political back and forth came as reports emerged this week that Trump wants his name on both Dulles and Penn Station while threatening to withhold federal funding for a major transportation project connecting New York City and New Jersey. Schumer swiftly rejected the suggestion, according to media reports.....

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. Trump's obsession with renaming buildings after himself is about more than ego

Cultural omnipresence is a strongman tactic.

Trump’s obsession with renaming buildings after himself is about more than ego
Cultural omnipresence is a strongman tactic. www.ms.now/opinion/trum...

— News Wire - World 🌎 Independent News Network Pro-Democracy (@democracyblue.bsky.social) 2026-02-07T14:14:33.588Z

https://www.ms.now/opinion/trump-rename-dulles-airport-penn-tunnel-schumer

President Donald Trump’s reported effort to hold a giant infrastructure project hostage unless he gets to rename Washington-Dulles International Airport and New York’s Penn Station after himself, on the surface, seems like yet another of his narcissistic gambits. But taken with all his other efforts at self-commemoration, it should also be seen as something more: an authoritarian tactic to dominate the public’s consciousness. .....

This isn’t normal political dealmaking. It’s an abuse of power. The president is interfering with funds that were already allocated by Congress for an important public works project in order to effectively skim something off the top for himself (even if in this case he’s trying to secure symbolic power, and not money). As my colleague Steve Benen put it, it’s an “attempt at extortion.”

And as Benen detailed, his obsession with renaming things after himself is unrelenting:

Trump and his allies have now applied the president’s name to the Kennedy Center and to the Institute of Peace, announced the construction of ‘Trump-class’ battleships, unveiled a commemorative legal-tender coin that will feature his face on both sides and have launched ‘Trump Gold Cards,’ ‘Trump Accounts’ and ‘TrumpRx’ (the government’s new drug-pricing website). By some accounts, the president wants the forthcoming White House ballroom to be named after him, too.

Presidential historians have pointed out that Trump’s renaming spree is unprecedented; typically a president is commemorated by other people after the president dies.

But Trump’s insistence on plastering his name is not only a matter of troubling self-obsession; it also serves a political purpose — by making him seem more powerful than he is.

It is standard fare for autocratic leaders to erase boundaries between themselves and the state. Turkmenistan’s late strongman leader Saparmurat Niyazov made his birthday a national holiday, which involved over-the-top celebrations of him, including military parades and a declaration by his ministers that he was a prophet from God. In North Korea’s totalitarian state, cultish praise and ubiquitous imagery of the country’s leaders are an essential part of the government’s social structures designed to induce the public to submit before its authoritarian leader. The effect of these social rituals is to make a leader appear invincible, untouchable.

As The Boston Globe pointed out in December in its analysis of Trump’s renaming obsession, strongmen across history often compelled their subjects or allies to participate in the spectacle of renaming:

Allies of Rome’s Julius Caesar, Germany’s Adolf Hitler, the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, North Korea’s Kim Il Sung, India’s Narendra Modi, and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan named sports stadiums, cities, roads, schools, and other public buildings after them.

In this specific situation, it seems Trump is unlikely to get what he wants because there’s no way that Schumer — who has already refused — could give him what he wants. But we should expect Trump to continue angling to add his name and his visage everywhere he possibly can. Like so many aspiring strongmen before him, Trump views cultural omnipresence as a gateway to political omnipotence. But given that Trump is manifestly not all-powerful, right now, many people can see it for what it is: graffiti.

[RPM]

14. Take the money, drag your feet on renaming, an un-name once he's gone.

not hard - isnt like you can repossess a tunnel.

[bdamomma]

15. Schumer

better not cave to this evil weak little thug. Trump thinks everyone will bow down to his whims.

What a SF he is!!!

[pinkstarburst]

16. Honestly, in this case, I would take the money, rename

any stupid thing he wants, build the projects and the moment he's out of the White House, name them back to what they originally were. It's not like his name isn't going to be stripped off of everything the moment the clock runs out in 2029 anyway. I personally think we should raze the new WH ballroom to the ground, too. All these ridiculous monuments to his vanity--gone. He doesn't get a legacy, just like Germany didn't leave swastikas all over after WW2.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. MaddowBlog-Trump tries to blame Schumer for the president's own Gateway tunnel project debacle

The president didn’t deny the absurd proposal, but he did try to blame the Senate Democratic leader for the idea. Schumer called it an “absolute lie.”

As Trump asks us to believe Schumer wanted to rename Penn Station and Dulles Airport after Trump, there are fresh reasons this should be more than a one-day story. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-09T14:57:14.395Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-tries-to-blame-schumer-for-the-presidents-own-gateway-tunnel-project-debacle

The president’s pitch was, for all intents and purposes, an attempt at extortion: If Democrats wanted to save a critical infrastructure project and prevent the job losses, they had to indulge Trump’s obsession with self-glorification.

The White House made little effort to deny the accuracy of the reporting, and on Friday night, during a brief Q&A on Air Force One, a reporter asked the Republican, “Can you set the record straight? There were reports circulating that you told Chuck Schumer that in order to restore funding for the Gateway train tunnel in New York, New Jersey, you would want Penn Station and Dulles Airport to be named after you. Is that true?”

The ideal answer would have been, “No, of course not, that would be insane.” Alas, that’s not what Trump said.

Link to tweet

....In other words, we’re supposed to believe that the Democratic Senate leader, among others, approached Trump with the idea of renaming an airport and one of the nation’s most storied train stations after the president they vehemently oppose.

Schumer wasted little time in responding to this absurdity, calling the claim an “absolute lie.”

.....And yet, here we are, watching this same scenario unfold.

As for the underlying legal fight over the White House’s tactics, U.S. District Court Judge Jeannette Vargas on Friday blocked the administration from suspending funds for the Gateway project. It was a preliminary ruling that allowed the investments to continue while broader legal issues continue to be adjudicated. Watch this space.