US President Donald Trump offered last month to drop his hold on funding for a key $16 billion New York Hudson River tunnel project in exchange for Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer supporting the renaming of Washington Dulles Airport and New York Penn Station after Trump, a source told Reuters on Thursday.
Punchbowl News first reported the offer, citing four sources, which was swiftly rejected by Schumer, who told the White House he did not have the power to rename the landmarks, a source confirmed to Reuters. The White House did not respond to a request for comment, and Schumer's office declined to comment.
On Friday, a US judge will hold a hearing on the emergency request by New York and New Jersey to compel the restoration of funding for the $16 billion Gateway Hudson River tunnel, before construction is set to halt and put 1,000 construction workers out of work. Trump froze funding in October.
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, late Thursday called Trump's suggestion "ridiculous. These naming rights aren’t tradable in any negotiations, nor is the dignity of New Yorkers... 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 initiative, which received about $15 billion in federal support under then-President Joe Biden, involves repairs to an existing tunnel and the construction of a new one for passenger railroad Amtrak and state commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan, and the linchpin of rail travel between New York and New Jersey.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul responded to Trump's reported proposal on social media with a "counteroffer" that would rename Trump Tower in Manhattan as "Hochul Tower."
Trump offers to unfreeze funds for Hudson River tunnel if buildings are named after him
Trump has shown a fondness for buildings and programs named after him.
Since returning to office in January, the Republican president has affixed his name to prominent Washington buildings, a planned class of Navy warships, a visa program for wealthy foreigners, a government-run prescription drug website, and federal savings accounts for children.
In December, the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which Trump filled with allies during a takeover, added Trump's name to the institution's name.
Trump's name was added in December to the United States Institute of Peace building in Washington, months after his administration seized the nonprofit and effectively closed it.
In December, Trump vowed to overhaul the federally owned Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, a major United Airlines hub and the primary international airport for the US capital area, calling it a bad facility.
Some Republicans in Congress have introduced legislation to rename Dulles after Trump, and many airline officials have told Reuters they believe Trump wants the airport renamed for him. The airport is currently named after John Foster Dulles, who served as US secretary of state under President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s.
In October, the US Treasury released a draft design for a $1 coin featuring President Donald Trump to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence in 2026.