White House clarifies it was Trump’s idea to rename Dulles Airport and Penn Station after himself

WASHINGTON, DC: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt contradicted President Donald Trump as she claimed that it was the Republican leader who came up with the idea of naming New York’s Penn Station and Washington, DC’s Dulles Airport after himself.

During the Tuesday, February 10, press briefing, Leavitt said, “It was something the president floated in his conversation with Chuck Schumer. As for the funding, the president has addressed that separately himself."

Trump says Chuck Schumer proposed ‘Trump Station’ name

However, a few days ago, Trump claimed that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked him to change the name of Penn Station to Trump Station while the two discussed a plan to unfreeze $16 billion in federal funding for the Gateway rail tunnel project connecting New York and New Jersey.

Last week, he told reporters on Air Force One, “Chuck Schumer suggested that to me about changing the name of Penn Station to Trump Station. Dulles Airport is really separate. Dulles Airport is really not too involved with Congress. That's a separate kind of a deal, as you know.”

Chuck Schumer calls Trump claim ‘absolute lie’

But Schumer slammed the commander-in-chief on X. He posted, “Absolute lie. He knows it. Everyone knows it. Only one man can restart the project and he can restart it with the snap of his fingers.”

This, however, does not come as a surprise, as Trump has already named a number of places after himselffor, example, the Kennedy Center is now known as the Trump-Kennedy Center, and the United States Institute of Peace was renamed the Donald J Trump United States Institute of Peace.

In addition, a Navy guided-missile warship is now called the Trump-class battleship.

Democrats slam Trump over renaming reports

This came after Democrats previously blasted Trump over reports that he was planning to rename Dulles Airport and Penn Station.

Representative Ritchie Torres told Axios, “Trump is pathologically petty and cannot be trusted to keep his word. There is no point in yielding to his ever-changing ransom demands.”

Representative Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) added, “Instead of lowering costs, President Trump is holding critical infrastructure funding hostage for more vanity projects.”

“Six years ago, I proudly led the effort to impeach Donald Trump over his illegal scheme to extort Ukraine. Today, he is once again attempting to extend his extortion racket by smearing his name onto Penn Station while holding up billions in critical funding for the Gateway Project,” Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY) posted on X.

He asserted, “While American infrastructure crumbles, Trump would much rather prioritize selfish renaming over much-needed rebuilding. The Gateway Project funding must be released immediately. Donald Trump’s legacy will not be defined by where he slapped his name; it will be defined by the mess he left our nation’s most important infrastructure project.”