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Palm Beach International Airport, in South Florida, officially changed its name this Thursday to that of U.S. President Donald Trump, becoming the first president in the country's history to have an airfield named in his honor while still in office.
"As of today, Palm Beach International Airport has been officially renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport," reported the airfield, which is located in the city where the president has his residence at the Mar-a-Lago beach club, on its social media.
The first plane to land at the renamed airport was Trump Force One at 05:01 hours (09:01 GMT) with one of the president's sons, Eric Trump, on board, who thanked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for endorsing the name change last March.
Eric Trump asserted that "there is no one who has done more" for Florida and for the United States, "and no one who deserves this incredible honor more," in addition to expressing his "pride in seeing the initials DJT," the airfield's new code, on boarding passes.
"I don't think there is anyone more synonymous with Palm Beach than Donald Trump, and perhaps all of Florida. And, you know, it's his home. He absolutely loves this state, he won the state by a significant margin, you know, and this is the plane that carried him to victory," the president's son told Fox News.
The White House also released images in which Florida road signs show the name of the new airport, which transports nearly 8.6 million passengers a year, has more than 200 daily commercial flights, and contributes 4.6 billion dollars to the region's economy, according to data from the airfield.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that systems now reflect the airport's new identifier, which changed from PBI to DJT, so "pilots, air traffic controllers, and aviation stakeholders must use DJT for flight planning and operations."
The change occurs despite criticism from Democrats and a legal challenge from a pilot against the name change, arguing that it creates "uncertainty" and potential "safety risks" in the air.
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It also happens in the midst of attempts by the president and Republicans to rename institutions after him, as was already done in Washington with the Trump Institute of Peace and the Trump Kennedy Center, although the latter was reversed following a judge's order.
Likewise, Administration officials have pressured the leader of the Senate Democrats, Chuck Schumer, to help put the Trump name on New York's Penn Station and Dulles Airport, which is located in Virginia and connects to Washington.
[Publicidad]