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President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled an ambitious $22.5 billion proposal to modernize and expand Washington Dulles International Airport, calling the decades-old facility outdated and promising to transform it into one of the world’s premier aviation hubs.
Speaking from the Oval Office alongside Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Trump showcased a scale model of the proposed redevelopment, which would replace aging terminals, expand passenger facilities and eliminate Dulles’ signature mobile lounges in favor of an automated train system.
“Really, it’s an impossible airport,” Trump said. “You get off a bus, you go into a train, from the train you get onto another bus. It’s the worst airport.”
The president said the overhaul would add or renovate more than 5 million square feet of terminal space, replace the airport’s aging C and D concourses, construct a new 32,000-space parking garage closer to the terminals and build a central underground pedestrian tunnel to improve passenger access.
The proposal would also retire the airport’s long-criticized fleet of mobile lounges—commonly known as “people movers”—and replace them with an expanded AirTrain system connecting passengers throughout the airport.
Trump said the redesign would feature larger check-in areas, upgraded security checkpoints, expanded retail and dining options, new hotels and a significantly larger United Polaris lounge.
“For years, the United States has watched other major cities around the globe welcome travelers with grand and modern airports,” Trump said. “The last major airport built in the United States was Denver in 1995. That’s more than 30 years ago.”
He added that the Dulles project could become “the top airport anywhere in the world.”
White House Directly Involved in Design
The project reflects Trump’s growing personal involvement in major infrastructure projects around the nation’s capital.
According to administration officials, the president personally reviewed approximately 30 competing proposals and required architectural and engineering firms to submit three-dimensional models so he could evaluate competing designs at the White House.
Following the announcement, the White House released conceptual renderings showing dramatically redesigned terminals, expanded concourses and modernized passenger facilities.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy credited Trump with helping shape both the vision and architectural direction of the project.
“The president was deeply involved in developing the design and overall concept,” Duffy said.
Funding Plan Relies on Bonds and Airlines
Duffy said the project would be financed primarily through approximately $22.5 billion in bonded debt, with United Airlines—whose largest East Coast hub is located at Dulles—and other participating carriers helping fund the improvements.
Trump described the project as “largely financed” but acknowledged portions of the plan would still require congressional approval.
“It really is bipartisan,” the president said.
He argued the airport’s condition has long frustrated travelers regardless of political affiliation.
“Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, you don’t want to go and be subjected to this airport, because this airport is a terrible place to be,” Trump said.
If approved, the project would represent one of the largest airport redevelopment efforts in U.S. history and the most significant transformation of Washington Dulles International Airport since it opened in 1962.
