Dem
47
GOP
53
The Florida legislature, which is about as productive as the U.S. Congress, had passed only five bills this session, before yesterday. However, the members do understand the importance of prioritizing, particularly when it comes to highly critical matters that simply cannot wait. And so yesterday, they ran the total to six, overwhelmingly passing a bill that seeks to rename Palm Beach International Airport as the Donald J. Trump International Airport. The vote was 81-30 in the state House, and 25-11 in the state Senate. It was effectively a party-line vote, excepting a handful of members in each chamber who were absent.
There are two remaining steps before the name change becomes official, which is why we had to put a qualifier in the
headline. The first is that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has to sign the bill. He has said he will do so and, even if he
doesn't, the Republicans in the legislature have enough votes to override a veto. The second is that the FAA has to
approve the name change. This is the same FAA that is led by the Trump-appointed Bryan Bedford, who answers to the
Trump-appointed Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. Readers presumably don't need us to figure out the odds that
these two bootlickers Trump underlings will be delighted to sign off on the proposed change.
(Z) had dinner with a politically dialed-in friend last night, and the friend took the view that all of this slapping-Trump's-name-on-things is especially bad for him and the Republicans, because it's simple, and easy to understand, and is so transparently arrogant and yet desperate. We agree that whatever good this does in terms of Trump's ego, it is going to do harm, politically. Maybe if the administration had stopped with the Trump Institute for Peace, there wouldn't be much of a story. But then the Kennedy Center, and now the airport, and the proposed Trump arch, and maybe a bridge, and maybe a tunnel, and all these other things? How can people NOT notice?
There are two additional things about the airport situation that could also prove politically damaging. First, there's a lot of signage at an airport (along with other things, like stationery, and ID badges, and computer templates, etc.) that has to be updated in the event of a name change. It's not clear how much money it will take, but the sponsor of the airport-renaming legislation thinks $5.5 million should do it. However many millions it is, every Democrat in Florida will be saying things like, "Yes, I think we can all agree that renaming an airport in honor of a sitting president is more important than, say, having enough money to pay for health care for people."
The other issue is that the Trump Organization has filed paperwork for a trademark on the rights to the name "Donald J. Trump International Airport." The official explanation is that Trump just wants to prevent any abusive uses of his name. We find this a bit hard to swallow, since the Reagan, Kennedy, and Clinton families, among others, did not feel the need to file for trademark protection when airports were named after those presidents. The Trumps also say they have no intention of profiting off the trademark. We don't really believe that, either, but more importantly, we don't think most voters will believe it.
The U.S. can name its airports whatever it wants, but changing the airport code requires approval from IATA. If IATA does sign off, then instead of flying into PBI, you'll be able to fly into DJT. Regardless of the airport code, here's a tip: The best restaurants in the airport are apparently found in the sh**hole countries terminal. (Z)