President Trump said he has set his reconstruction sights on Washington Dulles International Airport.
“It should be a great airport, and it’s not a good airport at all. It’s a terrible airport,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday during his Cabinet meeting.
Mr. Trump, a former real estate developer, said the airport was “incorrectly designed,” however, he did praise the main terminal’s award-winning design by Eero Saarinen, a prominent Finnish American architect.
“We’re going to turn that around and we’re going to make Dulles airport — serving Washington and Virginia, Maryland, etc. — we’re gonna make that into something really spectacular. We have an amazing plan for it.”
Dulles, which goes by the call letters IAD, served 13.8 million passengers this year as of Oct. 1. It is one of three major airports in the Washington area. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Airport are the other two.
Mr. Trump’s motorcade took an unannounced drive through Dulles’ main terminal in early November. At the time, the White House said he wanted to take the detour to the airport to assess potential future projects.
One of the airport’s mobile lounges, or “people movers,” that drives travelers between Dulles concourses crashed last month, injuring nearly 20 people.
About a week later, a people mover carrying passengers hit a United Airlines luggage cart, injuring a United employee.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said an announcement would be made later about taking bids for replacement mobile lounges.
The Transportation Department also began accepting proposals Tuesday for designing and constructing new terminals and concourses at Dulles that would replace the existing main terminal and satellite concourse.
“Tourists, world leaders, and CEOs from around the world should not be forced to travel through an inefficient airport when they visit D.C.,” Mr. Duffy said in a statement. “IAD needs a complete refresh to assume its proper role as the premier international gateway into the capital of the greatest country in the world. We’re engaging the private sector to explore how we can do this cost-effectively and at the speed of Trump.”
Mobile lounges have been used at Dulles since its opening in 1962. The airport decided last year to invest about $160 million in refurbishing the shuttles in the hopes of using them 20 more years.
Reconstruction of the airport would add to the list of changes Mr. Trump has planned for the Washington region. He hinted last week that he wants to remake the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, but no more details have been provided.
Mr. Trump also has made changes to the White House that he says are needed. He paved over the grass in the Rose Garden and added chairs and tables with umbrellas. The East Wing has also been demolished for the construction of a ballroom. Gold appliques have been added to the Oval Office.
• Brad Matthews contributed to this report.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.