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President Trump announced a $22 billion makeover for Dulles International Airport on Wednesday that includes new terminals and will do away with the airport’s infamous “people mover” shuttles.
“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, you don’t want to be subjected to this airport. It’s a terrible place to be,” Trump said in the Oval Office surrounded by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and airline officials.
The project’s $22.5 billion cost will not be federally funded, and it will be bonded, Duffy said.
“United is going to partake in part of the payment, but the airlines who participate in the project are going to pay for it,” he said.
Dulles is a hub for United Airlines.
Trump told reporters he believes the renovations could be done relatively quickly. He said the project is “largely financed” but “we’d need some approvals from Congress probably.”
“Generally speaking, it’s been very bipartisan,” he said.
The renovations will include over 5 million square feet of new space and the replacement of the current C and D concourses, the president said. A parking garage will be built with some 32,000 spots.
Trump said he reviewed over 30 propoals and that the airport would be home to the “largest United Polaris Lounge in the world.”
The airport will also keep its iconic main terminal that was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen.
“This transformation is another step in our ongoing efforts to make Washington D.C. safe and beautiful again, the safety aspects, both in terms of the airlines and in terms of crime,” Trump said.
Instead of the people mover, there will be a “horseshoe train system,” Duffy said.
“A lot of people, whether you’re Republican or Democrat, you hate the way Dulles operates, so everyone’s come together and we’re building for America and building for the future,” Duffy said.
Trump has railed against Dulles for months. He took a ride by the airport in early November to assess the grounds.
In December, he mentioned at a Cabinet meeting that he would be looking at redoing Dulles.
“We’re also going to rebuild Dulles airport because it’s not a good airport. It should be a great airport, and it’s not a good airport at all,” Trump said at the time. “It’s a terrible airport. It was incorrectly designed with a good building. Actually, it’s got a beautiful terminal.”
The airport is named for the late Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. It’s one of the three Washington-area airports along with Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va.
Dulles is located in Chantilly, Va., about 25 miles outside Washington, D.C.
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