![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AFP_LL5Q7.JPG\" "\\"US")
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US President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walk off Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida as they arrive to spend the weekend at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on February 10, 2017. <\/p>\n
NICHOLAS KAMM<\/p>\n
AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Palm Beach County commissioners will take their first public vote Tuesday on the renaming of Palm Beach International Airport after Donald Trump, now that county officials have reached a tentative trademark deal with the president\u2019s companies following weeks of negotiations.<\/p>\n
The controversial deal is unusual: other airports named after presidents don\u2019t have trademarks owned by private companies<\/a>. Trump\u2019s companies and Palm Beach County administrators have argued the trademark agreement is necessary to protect the county from lawsuits, not for private profit.<\/p>\n A copy of the agreement signed by Trump Sunday and reviewed by the Miami Herald<\/a>, however, shows it could leave openings for Trump\u2019s businesses and family members to benefit from the taxpayer-funded airport name change.<\/p>\n For one, the agreement is non-exclusive to Palm Beach County. While Trump\u2019s companies agreed not to receive royalties or revenue for the sale of Trump-branded items at the airport, the non-exclusivity clause leaves an opening within the agreement for Trump\u2019s companies to sell airport-branded items off-site for profit, according to trademark attorney Josh Gerben.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s company also gets to make a list of \u201capproved retailers\u201d from which airport stores have to buy their airport-branded merchandise. If the county or any retail business want to sell products with the airport\u2019s name on it, they have to purchase those products \u201cexclusively and directly from such entities designated by Licensor.\u201d<\/p>\n The licensor in this case is DTTM Operations, LLC, which manages Trump\u2019s trademarks and secured the trademark for \u201cDonald J. Trump International Airport\u201d in February. Donald Trump Jr. is the president of DTTM, according to his signature on the draft agreement.<\/p>\n The agreement states that while Trump and his affiliates can\u2019t profit from the purchase or sale of these Trump airport branded items, they do have the power of determining who gets to manufacture them.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s also unusual,\u201d Gerben said. \u201cNormally a license agreement says that the goods have to be of a certain quality. It doesn\u2019t say that you have to purchase them from a retailer that we\u2019re approving them from.\u201d<\/p>\n Another notable provision in the agreement gives Trump veto power over how his biography is presented at the airport, ensuring he can strike down information he finds unflattering.<\/p>\n The county is allowed to use Trump\u2019s name, image and biographical information to market and promote the airport, according to the agreement, but Trump\u2019s companies get to approve or deny any of these uses beforehand.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just a non-partisan individual that\u2019s going to be able to write marketing materials or talk about Donald Trump. It\u2019s going to be him and his organizations getting to control the messaging here,\u201d Gerben said.<\/p>\n Many of the other details of the agreement are similar to typical commercial trademark agreements, he said. The agreement proposes an official eagle-centric logo for the airport that looks like a pared-down version of the presidential seal.<\/p>\n The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to questions about the agreement. Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo said tomorrow\u2019s commission vote on the deal is key to the airport renaming: \u201cCommissioners have to agree, however, we are required by state law to get [a deal] done.\u201d<\/p>\n Emails obtained by the Miami Herald between Palm Beach County administrators and state lawmakers late last year show that the county was concerned that the airport renaming \u201cconfers a commercial benefit upon the president and his companies\u201d and questioned whether the county should be compensated for handing free publicity over to Trump.<\/p>\n The county raised a litany of other safety and legal concerns in December<\/a>, before lawmakers approved the bill or Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law. Many of those issues were mitigated by the requirement added to the bill that the county reach a trademark deal with Trump\u2019s companies, county administrators told the Herald.<\/p>\n DeSantis signed the law forcing the name change in late March, but it only takes effect if the county reaches a deal for the trademark.<\/p>\n Some of the county\u2019s safety concerns, however, still hinge on whether the state agrees to pay the $5.5 million the county says it will take to implement the name change without siphoning money from other projects, like \u201croof and elevator replacement.\u201d The Florida Legislature has not passed a budget for next year yet; they\u2019re set to meet for a special session to do so in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Palm Beach County commissioners have not previously taken a public vote or position on the new law forcing them to rename the airport \u2014 meaning Tuesday\u2019s vote on the trademark deal will be the first time the local commissioners will publicly address the planned Trump tribute.<\/p>\n Screen capture Palm Beach County agreement <\/p>\n