Attorneys for President Donald Trump have filed to trademark the phrase "Donald J. Trump International Airport" as Florida lawmakers move toward renaming the Palm Beach airport in his honor.
New filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ‒ which Trump controls ‒ show that attorneys have also filed to trademark "President Donald J. Trump International Airport" and "DJT," a reference to the president's initials.
Typically, holding a trademark allows someone to license that use for a fee, but Trump's trademark attorney said that's not what's happening here. Instead, said Michael Santucci of the Fort Lauderdale-based 500Law, the president is protecting his legal rights to prevent bad actors from misusing what he called "the most infringed trademark in the world."
Santucci said the president is deeply honored by the pending Palm Beach International Airport renaming. The measure has received initial approval by legislative committees, but has not yet been passed into law.
"To be clear, the president and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee, or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming," Santucci said in a message to USA TODAY. "The Trump Organization is, and always has been, willing to provide this right to his hometown county at no charge."
