President Donald Trump announced a municipal bond-heavy plan to overhaul and expand Washington Dulles International Airport near the nation's capital.
"It's considered one of the worst airports anywhere in the world. We're going to make it maybe the best," Trump said Wednesday at the White House as he detailed the initiative alongside Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and United Airlines Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby.
Trump, who has long
He said the plan would also preserve the "iconic original terminal that first made the airport an architectural landmark," though it appears subsumed into a larger structure
The project will cost more than $20 billion, according to a statement from the Transportation Department. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, working with United and other airlines operating out of Dulles, will finance the new concourses and facilities through municipal bonds, the department said.
Much of US airport infrastructure is funded through the municipal bond market, where governments raise debt to finance upgrades. The airport is already in the midst of a $7 billion capital plan, which includes a new concourse, a new runway, an expanded passenger train system and additional parking.
Dulles, in suburban Virginia, is one of three airports serving the Washington area and saw a record
Trump suggested it could take two years to finish the work but said some approvals may be needed from Congress. He said the finished product would be a showcase for international travelers. "This is not a very good airport. We're going to make it a great airport," he said.
"For years, the United States has watched other major cities around the globe welcome travelers with grand and modern airports. Yet, the last major airport built in the United States was Denver in 1995," Trump said.
The project will dramatically overhaul the capital's key international gateway, including removing the much-maligned "people movers" that ferry passengers between some parts of the airport. Duffy mocked the people movers as something "from Star Wars," saying "they're slow and people are angry about them." He said building out an underground train system would better connect passengers.
It will also be a test of the Trump administration's ability to oversee a signature infrastructure project, one of many the president has undertaken in the Washington region as he looks to put his imprint on the capital. The president was personally involved in the effort, according to
The airport's layout has long been the subject of praise, thanks to the curving main building designed by architect Eero Saarinen, as well as derision by travelers because of the people movers, elevated vehicles originally conceived as mobile lounges that in practice function more like very large shuttle buses. Its busiest concourse was billed as a "
Trump has focused on design projects during his second term, including demolishing the White House East Wing to construct a massive ballroom, proposing plans for a renovation of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and carrying out a project to rehabilitate the Lincoln Memorial's Reflecting Pool that has so far
Those efforts have faced legal challenges and been mired in controversy. The president has also sought to use those projects to burnish his own legacy.
According to reports earlier this year, Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that he would be willing to unfreeze funds for an infrastructure project if the Democratic senator would agree to rename some transportation facilities, including Dulles, after the president.
Palm Beach airport in South Florida was renamed after Trump earlier this year.
