Eric Trump landed Trump Force One at 5:01 a.m. Thursday in West Palm Beach, marking the first flight into an airport that no longer carries the name it held for nearly half a century. Palm Beach International Airport is now President Donald J. Trump International Airport, and the Trump family made sure nobody missed the moment.
The ceremonial touchdown came on July 9, 2026, the day the renamed South Florida hub officially opened under its new designation. Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., county administrator Joseph Abruzzo, and commissioner Maria Marino posed for photos on the tarmac in front of the iconic Boeing 757 that served as a backdrop for countless campaign rallies.
Fox News Digital reported that Eric Trump appeared on "Fox & Friends" shortly after landing to describe the early-morning flight and what the renaming means to the Trump family.
"There's no way in h*** I was letting UPS be the first plane to land, so we got on [Trump Force One]... we touched down at exactly 5:01 a.m. this morning, and it was a beautiful day."
The remark drew laughs, but the underlying point was clear: this was a family affair, and the Trumps intended to own the occasion from the first wheels-down.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed the redesignation bill on March 31, 2026, Just The News reported, with the new name set to take effect July 1. The legislation passed both chambers of the Florida legislature along party lines, 81-30 in the House and 25-11 in the Senate, Breitbart noted.
The law recognized President Trump's longstanding ties to the area. Mar-a-Lago, his primary residence, sits just a few miles from the airport's runways. Trump has passed through those terminals countless times, as a private citizen, a candidate, and a president.
Palm Beach County commissioners then voted 4-3 to approve a naming rights and licensing agreement, as the Washington Examiner reported. The deal grants the county a permanent royalty-free license to use Trump's name and image. DTTM Operations, headed by Donald Trump Jr., manages branding approvals but cannot profit from merchandise sales tied to the airport name.
The Trump Organization addressed the financial question directly. "To be clear, the President and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee, or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming," the organization stated, as Just The News reported.
Eight other U.S. commercial airports already bear presidential names, from John F. Kennedy International in New York to George H.W. Bush Intercontinental in Houston. But none of those presidents were still in office when the honor came. The New York Post noted that Trump is the first sitting president to have a commercial airport named after him.
That distinction drew opposition from Democrats who cited rebranding costs and a lack of community input. The party-line votes in Tallahassee reflected that divide. But the legislation moved forward, DeSantis signed it, and the county commission approved the licensing terms.
The FAA does not formally approve airport name changes. The agency said it must complete administrative tasks, including updating navigational charts and databases. That process was expected to wrap up around the July 1 effective date.
On "Fox & Friends," Eric Trump made no effort to downplay the personal meaning of the moment. He tied the aircraft itself to his father's political rise.
"This is the plane that carried him to victory... It was the backdrop of so many of the presidential campaign stops."
He went further, connecting the airport's new name to what he described as his father's bond with the Palm Beach community.
"I don't think there's anybody more synonymous with Palm Beach than Donald Trump."
Eric Trump also spoke about the family's personal investment in making the renaming happen, calling it "an incredibly special moment" and praising his father's record.
"He's fought like h*** for all of us and, as a son who worked so hard to make this happen, I couldn't be more proud. Today was a really, really special moment."
The airport renaming is part of a broader pattern of Trump-branded institutional projects taking shape in Florida. AP News reported that Trump also unveiled digital renderings of a presidential library skyscraper planned for Miami's skyline. The building, designed by Miami-based firm Bermello Ajamil, would feature a gold Trump statue, a replica Oval Office, and a gold escalator. Miami Dade College donated a nearly three-acre plot of downtown real estate valued at over $67 million for the site.
Eric Trump described the planned library as "one of the most beautiful buildings ever built" and "an Icon on the Miami skyline."
President Trump himself weighed in on the airport's future during the renaming process. "We have a lot of things in store. A lot of tremendous elements are going to be added to the airport, making it bigger and better," he said, as the Washington Examiner reported. "I don't think there'll be anything as good as your airport will be anywhere in the country."
Several questions linger. The Trump Organization filed a trademark application for the airport name in February 2026, covering travel-related merchandise items, but the full scope of that trademark, and how it interacts with the royalty-free licensing agreement, has not been fully detailed. Whether any federal role beyond FAA chart updates was required remains unclear. And it is not known whether President Trump himself attended Thursday's ceremony or watched from Mar-a-Lago, just minutes away.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung offered a simpler take when the renaming plan gained traction earlier this year, saying the name "has a GREAT ring to it."
Democrats voted no. The county commission split 4-3. The legislature divided on party lines. None of it stopped the signs from changing. At 5:01 a.m. on a Thursday morning in July, Trump Force One rolled to a stop on a runway that now bears the president's name, and the only people who seem bothered are the ones who lost the vote.
