Trump offered to unfreeze NYC tunnel funding if airport, train station renamed for him, source says
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On Feb 6, a US judge will hold a hearing on the emergency request to force the restoration of funding for the Gateway Hudson River tunnel.
PHOTO: VINCENT ALBAN/NYTIMES
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump offered in January to drop his hold on funding for a key US$16 billion (S$20.4 billion) New York Hudson River tunnel project in exchange for Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer supporting the renaming of Washington Dulles Airport
Punchbowl News first reported the offer citing four sources that was swiftly rejected by Mr Schumer, who told the White House he did not have the power to rename the landmarks, a source confirmed to Reuters.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment and Mr Schumer’s office declined to comment.
On Feb 6, a US judge will hold a hearing on the emergency request by New York and New Jersey to force the restoration of funding for the US$16 billion Gateway Hudson River tunnel before construction is set to halt on Feb 6 and put 1,000 construction workers out of a job.
Mr Trump froze funding in October.
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, on Feb 5 called Mr Trump’s suggestion “ridiculous”.
“These naming rights aren’t tradable as part of any negotiations, and neither is the dignity of New Yorkers... The president continues to put his own narcissism over the good-paying union jobs this project provides and the extraordinary economic impact the Gateway tunnel will bring,” she said.
The initiative, which received about US$15 billion in federal support under then President Joe Biden, involves repairs to an existing tunnel and the construction of a new one for passenger railroad Amtrak and state commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan and the linchpin of rail travel between New York and New Jersey.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul responded to Mr Trump’s reported proposal on social media with a “counteroffer” that depicted Trump Tower in Manhattan renamed as “Hochul Tower”.
Mr Trump has shown a fondness for buildings or programmes being named for him.
Since returning to office in January, the Republican president has affixed his name to prominent Washington buildings, a planned class of Navy warships
In December, the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which Mr Trump filled with allies during a board takeover, added Mr Trump’s name
Mr Trump’s name was added in December to the United States Institute of Peace building in Washington, months after his administration seized the nonprofit organisation and all but closed it.
Mr Trump in December vowed to overhaul federally owned Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, a major United Airlines hub and the primary international airport for the US capital area, calling it a bad facility.
Legislation has been introduced in Congress by some Republicans to rename Dulles after Mr Trump and many airline officials have told Reuters they believe Mr Trump wants the airport renamed for him.
The airport is currently named after John Foster Dulles, who served as US Secretary of State under President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s.
In October, the US Treasury released a draft design for a US$1 coin featuring President Donald Trump to commemorate 250 years since the declaration of American independence in 2026. REUTERS
