President Donald Trump’s private company is seeking to trademark Donald J. Trump International Airport, the proposed new name of Palm Beach International Airport, leaving the door open for his businesses to financially benefit from the rebrand.
Palm Beach County commissioners are expected to vote Tuesday on a non-exclusive licensing agreement, obtained by the Miami Herald, that would permit the Florida county to use the president’s name for the airport hub and merchandise sold inside.
In return, neither the president nor his family would receive “royalty, licensing fee or financial consideration” from the name change or branded merch sold at the airport, a Trump Organization spokesperson told the New York Times.
However, DTTM Operations LLC, a private company that manages the president’s likeness, has filed a trademark for “Donald J. Trump International Airport,” raising the possibility for Trump companies to sell branded items off-site for profit.
Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney who first noticed the trademark application in February, explained in a blog post that it would be “completely unprecedented” for a president’s private company to trademark the name of an airport named after him.
“The move raises unusual questions about the intersection of public infrastructure and private brand ownership,” Gerben wrote. “While presidents and public officials have had landmarks named in their honor, a sitting president’s private company has never in the history of the United States sought trademark rights in advance of such naming.”
The trademark application requests “Donald J. Trump International Airport” to be used on clothing, luggage, pet carriers, watches, clocks, jewelry, as well as airport-related products such as flight suits.
DTTM Operations LLC is overseen by the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., who also runs the Trump Organization.
The Independent has asked DTTM Operations LLC and the Trump Organization for comment.
The Trump Organization told the New York Times that the trademark is to “protect the name for Palm Beach County and the state of Florida, thus preventing bad actors from infringing upon or misusing the name.”
The Trump company trademark application was filed in February, shortly after Florida state lawmakers advanced legislation to rename the Palm Beach International Airport after the president.
In March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the legislation into law, giving the Palm Beach County commissioners and the Federal Aviation Administration until July to approve the final details.
Trump has reportedly hoped to rename other transportation hubs after himself, such as Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., and Penn Station in New York City.
The president has added his name to other high-profile buildings such as the Donald J. Trump John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Donald J. Trump Institute for Peace.
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