The public-private partnership alternative to Trump’s Washington Dulles Airport plan

What a difference eight months make.

Official response and confirmed impact

After perusing various scale models from an array of companies, President Donald Trump announced his own $22 billion plan for the airport, beginning with a 32,000-space parking structure in front of the iconic terminal designed by architect Eero Saarinen.

The parking structure, whose capacity is far larger than the airport estimates for 2045, would be about eight stories high (fully above ground), hiding the iconic terminal building.

A detailed CBS News article summarizing Trump’s new role as airport designer.

At Trump’s request, several engineering companies brought detailed Dulles Airport scale models to and from the White House, to facilitate “his edits to plans for all aspects of Dulles International Airport (IAD).” But Trump also invited development and financial companies to submit proposals.

At least one of them, BlackRock, proposed a long-term public-private partnership (P3) lease under which it would finance, design, rebuild, and operate the airport.

For the White House, another key source was United Airlines, which accounts for two-thirds of airline operations at Dulles, making the airport one of its fortress hubs.

United CEO Scott Kirby met with Trump a number of times, CBS News reported.