President Donald Trump is expected to hold a meeting Wednesday to discuss potentially sweeping renovations at Washington Dulles International Airport, a facility he has long criticized as unsightly and inefficient.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is expected to be in attendance, according to a report from Reuters. Late last year, the Transportation Department began soliciting ideas from the private sector on how to overhaul the airport, which the secretary described as an underwhelming gateway to the nation’s capital.
Separately, The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the administration is weighing proposals calling for a new terminal and the scrapping of Dulles’ “mobile lounges.” The airport has used the bus-like vehicles to connect passengers to their flights for decades, but they are increasingly viewed as outdated, especially since the opening of the underground AeroTrain system in 2010.
A number of well-known architecture and engineering firms have submitted outlines for the overhaul, including AECOM, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Adjaye Associates, according to The Architect’s Newspaper.
Trump has become personally involved in the project, the Post said, and will likely play an important role in shaping the redesign.
The president is reportedly interested in having Dulles renamed after himself.
Earlier this month, Punchbowl News reported that Trump offered to unfreeze billions of dollars for a New York infrastructure project on the condition that both Dulles and Penn Station be renamed to honor him. The deal was offered to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who turned it down, saying he didn’t have the power to change the name of either site.
A group of Republicans in Congress have also proposed renaming Dulles after Trump, though their bill has not gathered much momentum.
Dulles is operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which also oversees Reagan National. The authority has proposed its own upgrades for Dulles, including the gradual phaseout of the mobile lounges.
