Editorial: The sheer tackiness of Trump Airport

South Florida Sun Sentinel, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Feb 28, 2026

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To critics, renaming Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald Trump smacks of political graffiti. But the coming grift is what they should be most concerned about.

The Trump Organization said Trump was “deeply honored that the people of Florida are considering renaming his hometown airport in his honor.”

But the people of Florida did no such thing. The gerrymandered Legislature rammed it through, led by, among others, Rep. Meg Weinberger, who won her northern Palm Beach County district and Trump’s blessing by advertising herself as “MAGA Meg.”

Not one of 12 airports bearing presidents’ names was retitled when those presidents were still in office, and there’s a reason why.

Racing to stick a sitting president’s name on buildings is not about honoring his service. It is about forcefully reminding people of his power. The same rush to rename buildings, erect statues, hang massive banners of faces and publicly declare fealty to the leader in power is on display in North Korea, Cuba and the former Soviet Union.

It is a hallmark of cult government — not democracies.

The trademarking of Trump

To their discredit, according to voting records, Senate Democrats Kristen Arrington, Tracie Davis, Barbara Sharief and Shevrin Jones initially voted for the bill in committees. They later joined other Democrats in voting no. However, given criticism that the Democratic Party is failing to stand up to GOP overreach, their early support is especially tone deaf.

Then, as it became obvious that the Legislature would greenlight the name change, a Trump Organization company rushed to secure trademarks for the names President Donald J. Trump International Airport, Donald J. Trump International Airport and DJT.

The company emphasized that the president and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee or financial consideration from the renaming. But legislators pushed through an amendment requiring a license agreement with the president’s business as part of the renaming.

The new trademarks cover a laundry list of travel merchandise, including carry-on bags, flight suits, aircraft fueling, pet carriers and plastic slippers to keep socks clean when going through security.

Of course Trump is going to find a way to make money off the airport’s new name. This is a man who put his name on a$1,000 Bible.

From cologne to energy drinks

It’s at the core of the family business. Before Trump won the presidency, he cashed in on selling the right to use his name on real estate projects across the globe. He has used his name on a long list of lesser deals: steaks, a board game, a gambling video, a winery, cologne, vodka, furniture, a bicycle race, even an energy drink for the Israeli and Palestinian markets.

The self-marketing and hucksterism may have worked in business deals, but in the Oval Office, it has morphed into a presidency fueled by vanity, greed and graft.

The New York Times Editorial Board analyzed public data and found that Trump has used his presidency to pocket $1.4 billion, a haul roughly equal to 16,822 times the median U.S. household income.

More than $800 million has come from crypto asset sales, Reuters found, much of it from unidentified “foreign interests.” Trump once derided crypto. That was before a Trump meme coin made him a small fortune and the lucrative launch of his cryptocurrency trading platform, heralded as“an improvement on official U.S. currency.”

The courting of crypto

He has been courting crypto ever since. They are returning the favor: Crypto investors have commissioned “Don Colossus,” a 15-foot, $360,000 gold-leaf statue of Trump raising his fist.

His core supporters may not see it, and the Florida Legislature may refuse to admit it, but at this point in his presidency, Trump is stunningly unpopular. Even if his polling numbers weren’t in the basement, most Americans want their government to run in the background — not in their faces while they squeeze themselves into an airplane.

But Trump’s ego requires it. As GOP strategist Steven Hilding explained, putting his name before the public will ensure he is remembered. And he will be — but not for airports.

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The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

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