The metrorail station at Dulles International Airport is seen Nov. 2, 2022, in Chantilly, Va., with the terminal in the background. (Matthew Barakat/AP)
WASHINGTON — A Navy veteran is leading an effort in the House to strip the name of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles from the main international airport in the nation’s capital and replace it with former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., said he introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport to Donald J. Trump International Airport because “our nation has never been greater than under the leadership” of Trump.
“As millions of domestic and international travelers fly through the airport, there is no better symbol of freedom, prosperity and strength than hearing ‘Welcome to Trump International Airport’ as they land on American soil,” he said.
Reschenthaler was elected to the House in 2018 and previously served in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General Corps, deploying to Iraq in 2009. He prosecuted nearly 100 terrorists in Iraq and helped successfully defend a Navy SEAL who was accused of covering up the mistreatment of an al-Qaida terrorist in U.S. custody, according to his congressional website.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., eats with sailors in 2019 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. (James Norket/U.S. Navy)
Several other veterans in the House are backing Reschenthaler’s bill, including Republican Mike Waltz of Florida, a former Green Beret; Republican Troy Nehls of Texas, an Army Reserve veteran; and Republican Barry Moore of Alabama, a veteran of the Alabama National Guard and Reserve.
Lawmakers last proposed changing the name of Dulles airport in 1990, when former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., suggested renaming it after former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who ‘‘helped save the world from tyranny’‘ in World War II.
Eisenhower’s aviation adviser chose to name the airport after John Foster Dulles, an influential figure during the early stages of the Cold War who advocated for an aggressive stance against communism. Dulles died three years before the airport opened in 1962.
The push to swap Dulles for Trump is unlikely to gain traction in the Democrat-controlled Senate and was met with ridicule by Democrats in the Republican-led House.
Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., described the bill as “another in a long list of instances where extreme House Republicans have shown how unserious [and] delusional they are.”
“Let’s get to work on the real issues the American people sent us here for — not renaming an airport after someone who sought to undermine our democracy,” she wrote on X.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., whose district partially includes Dulles, suggested Trump’s name would be better suited elsewhere.
“Donald Trump is facing 91 felony charges,” he wrote on X. “If Republicans want to name something after him, I’d suggest they find a federal prison.”
