White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt contradicted Donald Trump on Tuesday while speaking out about the president putting his name on New York’s Penn Station and Washington, DC’s Dulles Airport.
Leavitt said it was Donald Trump that came up with the idea of putting his name on both locations in a conversation with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“About renaming, why not? It is something the President floated in his conversation with Chuck Schumer,” Karoline Leavitt said.
However, as noted by Time, this isn’t how President Trump described that conversation four days ago. Speaking of the subject on Friday, Trump insisted that it was Schumer who suggested renaming Penn Station to Trump Station. He said it would be part of a deal to unfreeze federal funding for the $16 billion Gateway rail tunnel project, set to add another commuter tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey.
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That’s not how Trump described the conversation four days earlier. On Friday, Trump insisted it was Schumer who had suggested renaming Penn Station to Trump Station as part of a deal to unfreeze federal funding for the $16 billion Gateway rail tunnel project, which would add another commuter tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan.
Trump spoke about the suggestion while addressing reporters on Air Force One, saying, “Chuck Schumer suggested that to me about changing the name of Penn Station to Trump Station.”
“Dulles Airport is really separate. Dulles Airport is really not too involved with Congress. That’s a separate kind of a deal, as you know,” the president added. However, Schumer denied that they had that conversation. He posted on X last week to say that the president’s version of their conversation was an “Absolute lie.”
In the meantime, Trump has put his name on the Kennedy Center, before deciding to shut the center for two years for renovation. He also put his name on the US Institute of Peace.
Meanwhile, the funding for the Gateway Tunnel was frozen by Trump last year during the government shutdown. Moreover, a federal judge gave Trump administration has until February 12 at 5 pm to resume payments for the project. Alternatively, he can appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
According to US District Judge Jeannette Vargas, the states of New York and New Jersey have revealed that the funding shutdown would have an immediate and severe impact on the project. Moreover, substantial delays of the project could lead to the loss of up to 95,000 jobs.
The rail project was intended to add a new rail tunnel running into Manhattan, and would renovate the existing 110-year-old tunnel running under the Hudson River.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has several other locations where he would like to see his name. One is the President Donald J. Trump Ballroom, which will replace the demolished East Wing of the White House. Another is his planned triumphal arch in Washington, DC, which he hopes to name Arc de Trump.
