Apr 2, 2026
In January 2015, Donald Trump sued Palm Beach County for $100 million. He claimed the county's airport director was deliberately routing departing flights directly over his Mar-a-Lago estate out of personal spite over a 20-years long lawsuit.
He called it a 'horrible injustice,' while the county basically stayed silent. Fast forward ten years, and the tables have completely turned. The airport Trump once called his enemy is now about to bear his name.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation on March 30, 2026, to officially rename Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) to "President Donald J. Trump International Airport" (DJT) (1).
The change will take effect by July 1, 2026, pending administrative steps by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
A feud that started in 1995
Trump bought Mar-a-Lago in 1985 for $10 million (2). The 1927 Mediterranean-style estate is a National Historic Landmark, and is now his private club and personal residence.
The airport, on the other hand, was built in the 1930s, about two miles west of Mar-a-Lago. Planes taking off to the east usually pass directly over the property.
Trump filed his first lawsuit against the airport in 1985, over airport noise and expansion plans. That case was settled with the county agreeing to lease Trump land where he later built Trump International Golf Club.
He filed the second lawsuit in 2010 over airport noise again, with an aim to redirect flights from his Mar-a-Lago Club to other routes. Trump accused airport director Bruce Pelly of "intentional battery” of his club (3).
"It was very far reaching," said Assistant County Attorney Andrew McMahon, noting that the legal theory of 'intentional battery' via airplane noise was 'way out there.’”
At the time, the court judge, Joseph Marx, dismissed his lawsuit, though he gave them a shot to refile an amended version (3).
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In 2015, Trump filed another lawsuit. He alleged that airport director Bruce Pelly — who was named in the 2010 litigation — was deliberately diverting more air traffic over Mar-a-Lago to retaliate against him because of the lawsuit.
His lawyer, John Marion of Sellars, Marion & Bachi, even said that “Trump is forced to fly his own private jet over his club” (4).
The lawsuit called the actions “deliberate and malicious” (4). It also claimed that noise, vibrations, fumes and residue from the planes were cracking floors, roofing and columns of the historic structure and destroying its "once serene and tranquil ambience.”
A judge later dismissed four of the six counts, because there was no evidence to show that the county was responsible for the flight paths.
By 2016, Trump won the election and no longer needed a lawsuit. The secret service mandated a no-fly restriction over Mar-a-Lago whenever he was in residence.
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What goes on behind the scenes of the renaming?
The legislation, House Bill 919, passed the Florida House 81-30 and the Senate 25-11 (5), both along party lines. This gives Florida the authority to name major commercial service airports statewide, and PBI is the first to do so. For the first time, Tallahassee — not the local community — gets to decide whose name goes on the terminal.
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Florida Democrats pushed back against the renaming, claiming that the full cost of rebranding from PBI to DJT would cost taxpayers about $5.5 million. This includes the signage, uniforms, vehicles, marketing materials, overhead announcements and telephone systems (6).
The Trump Organization filed a trademark application for the renaming in February, and claimed it was prompted by the Florida bill that was passed, but it was not to make profit.
"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 Trump Organization said (7).
The flight path that never really went away
When Trump returned to the presidency in 2025, the FAA rerouted departing flights away from Mar-a-Lago, and shifted the noise burden onto surrounding West Palm Beach neighborhoods that had never dealt with it before.
Neighbors around Mar-a-Lago estate, like Flamingo Park and Grandview Heights, have filed several complaints against Trump's flight diversion (8).
"You can no longer enjoy your existence outdoors," one local resident told Bloomberg. Venture capitalist David Skok said the flight path and the noise that comes with it will affect the property value of Palm Beach (8).
The road connecting the airport to the resort was renamed President Donald J. Trump Boulevard earlier this year (6). And the man who once called the whole situation a "horrible injustice" will soon have his initials as the airport's official code.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
NBC News (1); Forbes (2); Palm Beach Post (3); CBS News (4); NBC Miami (5); WPTV (6); CBS News (7); Daily Beast (8)
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