A Democratic congressional candidate has filed a lawsuit to stop Palm Beach International Airport from being rebranded after President Donald Trump.
“We think this is an unconstitutional renaming,” Victoria Doyle, who is running in the 23rd Congressional District, said Wednesday after lodging her complaint in a county courthouse.
In March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation authorizing the state to rename seven major airports, including PBI, which will be rebranded as “President Donald J. Trump International Airport.” The president travels through the airport on most weekends, while coming and going from his nearby Mar-a-Lago resort.
The rebranding, along with related upgrades, is expected to cost approximately $5.5 million, according to The Palm Beach Post.
Doyle’s lawsuit seeks an injunction to block county officials from moving forward with the airport renaming until a separate suit — filed in April by pilot George W. Poncy Jr. — is decided. Poncy’s suit, brought against DeSantis and the state’s Department of Transportation, argues the name change could create safety risks and confusion for pilots and air traffic controllers.
“I don't want the county to spend any taxpayer money on renaming the airport until the merits of Mr. Poncy's lawsuit are decided,” Doyle told The Palm Beach Post. "We're telling the county: Stop, do nothing, spend no money, change no signage.”
Doyle, a native New Yorker and trademark attorney, purchased a home in Palm Beach in 2015. Her campaign website states that she “left her law practice in April 2025 to run for office after years of activism, protesting, and frustration with Congress.”
Florida Republicans have praised DeSantis’ renaming of the airport, with one calling it a “historic recognition” of a president “who made Florida his home and saved our great Nation.” Democrats, meanwhile, criticized the move as a waste of taxpayer money that could have gone toward supporting working families.
Trump himself — officially a Florida resident — has lauded the name change being made in his honor.
“We have a lot of things in store,” he said earlier this month. “A lot of tremendous elements are going to be added, making it bigger and better. I don’t think there’ll be anything as good as your airport will be anywhere in the country.”
Before the law ordering the name change was signed, the Trump family company filed to trademark the airport name, according to The New York Times. Under the agreement, the family will not profit from branded goods sold within the airport, but could sell airport merchandise elsewhere for a profit.
Since the 79-year-old Republican returned to office, several organizations have been renamed after him.
In December, the White House announced the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts would be called the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The same month, the U.S. Institute of Peace was renamed the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.
