Palm Beach International airport was rebranded Donald J. Trump International Airport on Thursday and there are already signs that the name change could hurt tourism in the region.
The rebranding occurred due to a law passed by Florida Republicans and approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who Trump dubbed “Ron DeSanctimonious” during their contentious presidential primary fight. The state’s Democrats opposed the name change, which is projected to cost taxpayers over $5 million, not to mention that Palm Beach is traditionally a Democratic stronghold.
That may just be the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the name change could mean to the Florida economy.
Related | Take a flying leap: Trump forces his name on Florida airport
Last year Palm Beach County broke its record for tourism, with over 10 million visitors coming to the region. But that was before travelers knew they would be flying into an airport affiliated with an unpopular president, notorious for promoting conspiracy theories, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and easily debunked lies.
Travelers may also not want to play a role in yet another corruption-tinged venue for Trump, who raked in over $2 billion last year after using the presidency as a vehicle for his personal financial gain. His family business hastily filed an application for a trademark related to the airport while legislators rushed to honor him, meaning the airport name could soon become another tchotchke for Trump to sell to his most devoted fans.
One traveler interviewed by CNN told the network that thanks to the name change, she planned to route her future Florida travel through the airport in Orlando to avoid “DJT.”
“I think it’s patently absurd that we’re spending taxpayer money to rename an airport after a criminal that’s sitting in the White House,” said a traveler who spoke to MS Now.
Another was even more blunt: “I think it’s disgusting, ridiculous, pompous and a lot of other bad things. I do not like it at all.”
In another related development, the signage used for the rebrand appears to not be the work of original graphic designers, but instead AI-generated slop. The eagle logo on the sign has one deformed leg, features several unexplained blobs, and contains eleven stripes instead of the thirteen stripes on the official presidential seal representing the thirteen original colonies.
Even if the graphic wasn’t generated by an AI prompt, it is sloppy and inaccurate—a hallmark of Trump-related products and his presidency.
Trump heralded the rebranding as a great moment on his social media account, but like the Trump name that has now been removed from the Kennedy Center in Washington, Palm Beach may soon realize the negative affiliation is simply bad for business.
We’ll get straight to the point: The financial hardships that Daily Kos is facing this year are tough.
We continue to be paywall-free. We continue to be supported by our readers, not billionaires or corporations. But we need to bring in more revenue. We are leaning on our community more than ever to help make ends meet.