Image Credit: Adelia Kirchner / The Tennessee Conservative
The Tennessee Conservative / By Adelia Kirchner –
A bill to rename the Nashville International Airport (BNA) as the “Trump International Airport” has been referred to the House Transportation Committee with a 6-4 negative recommendation from the House Naming and Designating Committee.
Nashville’s BNA (Berry Field Nashville Airport) is currently named after Colonel Harry S. Berry, the first administrator of the international airport.
House Bill 217 (HB0217) or the “Trump International Airport Act” is sponsored by Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill-District 92) and would officially establish a process for renaming the airport after President Trump.
Republican Representatives Tim Rudd, Michele Reneau, and Mike Sparks are co-sponsors of HB0217.
During Monday’s meeting of the Naming and Designating Committee, HB0217 was amended to acknowledge that in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 (FY24-25), BNA received approximately $23 million from the state government under the authority of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA).
It is also noted that in FY25-26, BNA received approximately $34.3 million from the state government under the authority of the MNAA.
The freshly amended legislation clarifies that BNA would be expected to use those funds from the state government, under the authority of the MNAA “to facilitate the name change of BNA to Trump International Airport in accordance with this act.”
This portion of the amendment was added in response to the prepared fiscal note for HB0217 which attached a $10.3 million one-time expenditure to the legislation.
According to the fiscal note, the estimated cost to be incurred as a result of redesignating the airport was provided by the MNAA itself.
“It [the bill] comes with a $10 million fiscal note that came from the Nashville Airport Authority. I have some concerns with that fiscal note and I think it’s slightly inflated,” Rep. Warner stated. “But the amendment directs them to use the funds that the state of Tennessee and the taxpayers across this state are giving them.”
Rep. Pat Marsh (R- Shelbyville-District 62) said he wouldn’t be voting for the bill because he thinks they should be naming a bigger airport after President Trump.
“I think that we should name the LAX or Chicago or Atlanta,” said Rep. Marsh. “BNA is not big enough to have the name President Trump on it. I don’t think I can support this because I think that the airport here is not big enough to have the Trump name on it.”
“I couldn’t disagree with you more,” Rep. Warner responded. “We don’t have the authority to name those airports, but we do here in Tennessee have the authority to rename BNA.”
Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville-District 54) shared his opposition of the bill saying that, “Normally when they name airports after people, they have made some sort of significant contribution to the aviation industry.”
Committee Chairman Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood-District 61) added on to Rep. Marsh’s opinion by bringing up a similar bill that has been filed in the U.S. Congress.
“Rep. [Addison] McDowell from North Carolina has filed a bill, House Bill 691, in the U.S. House of Representatives to rename Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. as Donald J. Trump International Airport,” said. Rep. Bulso.
“D.C. already has one airport named after our 40th president, Reagan National Airport,” he continued, “and I think there is a nice symmetry in having a large national airport such as Dulles named in honor of our 45th and 47th president.”
Rep. Warner told committee members that he had recently reached out to Congressman Andy Ogles’ (R-TN) office about the U.S. House bill.
“The bill in Washington does not seem to be moving and it may be doubtful that it gets much traction,” said Rep. Warner.
Rep. Monty Fritts was the last committee member to speak before a vote was taken on HB0217.
“I appreciate you bringing this,” Rep. Fritts said to the bill sponsor. “We forced a conversation over Mr. Berry, whom Berry Field is named for, Colonel Berry. And I would hope that Nashville Airport Authority is listening to this, however it goes, and do a better job of increasing awareness about that great Tennessean for which that field is named now. So again, I appreciate you bringing it and the conversation it’s brought forth.”
By a 6-4 vote, HB0217 failed to receive a positive recommendation from the committee.
Republican Representatives Jody Barrett, Monty Fritts, Tom Leatherwood, and Todd Warner voted in favor of the legislation.
Republican Representatives Rush Bricken, Gino Bulso, Pat Marsh, and Democrat Representatives Aftyn Behn, Vincent Dixie, and Justin Jones voted against it.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. Adelia is The Tennessee Conservative’s on-site reporter for the Tennessee General Assembly. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
Re-naming airports and highways and mountains after Donald Trump is just a BIT premature, don’tcha think? Wait until the end of Trump’s term before evalutating his performance. Right now the Trump/Musk strategy is to burn down the government, then re-build it from the ground up. How this is all going to pan out is anyone’s guess. If Trump succeeds in creating his storied “Golden Age” at the end of four years, THEN consider adding his visage to Mount Rushmore. If Trump succeeds in precipating a depression or a nuclear war, all this premature adulation may be all for naught.
Vincent Dixie doesn’t know what the hell he is talking about. What contributions to aviation did Reagan or JFK make?