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Trump family business files for trademark rights on any airports using the president’s name

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump family company has filed to trademark the use of the president’s name on airports but says it doesn’t plan on charging a fee — at least for a proposed renaming of one near his Florida home.

Applications filed by the Trump Organization with the federal trademark office are seeking exclusive rights to use the president’s name on airports and dozens of related things found there, from buses shuttling passengers to umbrellas and travel bags to flight suits. The filings come amid debate in Florida over a state bill to name the Palm Beach airport after Trump and a dispute over funding of a tunnel between New York and New Jersey that is tied up with proposals that both it and Dulles International Airport in Virginia bear his name.

The Trump Organization said that the applications were triggered by the Florida bill and that it didn’t seek any profit — only protection against “bad actors” given that the Trump name is the “most infringed trademark in the world.”

“To be clear, the President and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee, or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming,” the company said it in a statement, referring to what is now called the Palm Beach International Airport near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

The company didn’t respond when asked if it would charge royalties for the use of the name at other airports in the future, or on merchandise listed for protection in the filings.

Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer who uncovered the filings over the weekend, said the applications were the first of their kind he’s ever seen.

“While presidents and public officials have had landmarks named in their honor, a sitting president’s private company has never in the history of the United States sought trademark rights in advance of such naming,” Gerben wrote on his blog. “These are trademark filings that are completely unprecedented.”

Another break with the past: Presidents usually have to wait for years after they’ve left office to get an airport named after them — or die.

Bill Clinton had to wait 11 years, Ronald Reagan nine. For Gerald Ford it took 22 years. JFK was quickest — just one month after his assassination.

If Trump gets his airport, it will join a long line of organizations, buildings and other public things renamed for him in recent months including the Kennedy Center performing arts venue, a road outside Mar-a-Lago dubbed the President Donald J. Trump Boulevard and a yet-to-built new class of battleships.

The airport trademark applications filed by a family company unit called DTTM Operations with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are for the use of three names — President Donald J. Trump International Airport, Donald J. Trump International Airport and DJT.

The Trump company’s claim that it is the most infringed trademark in the world could not be quickly confirmed.

Gucci has faced tens of thousands of copycat items since the early 1970s when Trump was starting out in Manhattan real estate. Prada has been active suing companies for years, and Rolex battles fake watches by the millions.

The family has been on a branding spree in the past year, putting the Trump name on towers, golf resorts and residential developments in Dubai, India, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. The company has also been selling Trump branded electric guitars, bibles and sneakers, ventures that also fall under the DTTM unit.

In response to criticism that he and his family are profiting off the presidency, Trump has said that his business is held in trust by his sons and that he has no day-to-day involvement in the company.

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

By WTOP Staff
(CNN) — What started as a yearly trip for a grandfather and his grandson turned into a visit to a Montana hospital after a bison attack at Yellowstone National Park.Carl McDaniel, 65, was hospitalized with a broken femur after a bison charged and tossed him into the air Friday evening at the park’s Bridge Bay Campground, according to McDaniel and the National Park Service.He was visiting the park with his 13-year-old grandson when they decided to take a walk after dinner.Along the way, they encountered a large bison that appeared to be rolling around in the dust and was not bothering anyone, McDaniel told CNN.“We were about a hundred yards away,” McDaniel said. “He was not aggressive; he was not having problems and we took some pictures and decided to walk on.”McDaniel and his grandson snapped a quick photo and continued with their walk, video of the encounter shows. At the same time, a truck drove by, and the driver laid on his horn in what appeared to be an attempt to get the bison to move, McDaniel said. There is no audio on the video.The bison then appeared to become agitated and began running toward the pair.“There was little time to decide what to do. At that point, he was within 100 yards; he could be to us in seconds, so I told my grandson to run in one direction and I went the other to try and draw him away,” McDaniel said.The animal then pushed McDaniel with the top of its head, sending him flying into the air before he hit the ground, the grandfather said.“When I was on the ground immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me. He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life, and he did not do so,” McDaniel said.After McDaniel hit the ground, photographer Mike MacLeod, who captured the encounter on video, had to step in, he told Cowboy State Daily.“I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.After the bison took off, people rushed over to McDaniel, who was in a lot of pain, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. Yellowstone EMS arrived soon after, he said.“Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital,” the National Park Service said in confirming the incident in a statement to CNN.This is the second bison attack at Yellowstone this year. A 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano on June 26, according to the agency.After Friday’s attack, “all the people that were there were amazing; they were all positive, they were trying to help as best they could,” McDaniel said. A nurse started tending to his leg, while another bystander held his head.He was then transferred to a hospital in Bozeman, a two-hour journey during which he was in intense pain. He said he was grateful for the paramedic who helped him along the way.McDaniel broke his femur, the body’s strongest bone, in four places near his hip and suffered several bruises. He had surgery Sunday and could stand by Monday.“I will be doing physical therapy for the next few days to get to walk, but it was not as catastrophic as it could have been,” McDaniel said.The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison at all times and to never approach the animals. “If the bison follows you, spray bear spray as you are moving away, and seek cover behind nearby trees or cars,” the agency said.Correction: An earlier version of this story understated how far visitors should stay away from bison. The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards from them.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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