President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a $22.5 billion plan to overhaul Washington Dulles International Airport, calling the longtime gateway to the nation’s capital “one of the worst airports anywhere in the world.”
“It’s considered one of the worst airports anywhere in the world, we’re going to make it maybe the best with some hard work,” Trump said. “This transformation is another step in our ongoing efforts to make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful again.”
Trump said he expected the project to draw bipartisan support.
“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, you don’t want to go and be subjected to this airport,” he said.
The proposal would replace aging concourses, add a new parking garage, modernize security screening and baggage handling, expand the AeroTrain system, and improve pedestrian access throughout the airport.
Transportation officials said the project will take years to complete and create thousands of jobs.
Located about 25 miles west of downtown Washington, Dulles opened in 1962 and recorded its busiest year on record in 2025.
The federal government will partner with United Airlines and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to complete the transformation, though officials have not disclosed how the project’s cost will be divided.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby called Dulles “the gateway that connects the nation’s capital to the world” and said the modernization project would make the airport a “showcase for the nation’s capital.”
The Department of Transportation said it reviewed more than 30 proposals before selecting the design unveiled Wednesday.
The airport renovation is part of the Trump administration’s effort to restore and modernize prominent public spaces in Washington.
“As the capital city of the greatest Nation in the history of the world, it should showcase beautiful, clean, and safe public spaces,” Trump has said.