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New York.- Democratic lawmakers in New York rejected this Friday the proposal of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to put his name on Washington-Dulles International Airport and New York's Penn Station in exchange for unblocking federal funds for the Gateway rail project.
"This is ridiculous. These names are not part of any negotiation, nor is the dignity of New Yorkers," said in a statement Kirsten Gillibrand, Democratic senator for the state of New York. According to several media outlets, Trump administration officials conveyed the proposal to the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, also from New York. The legislator rejected it, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by Politico. "There's nothing to negotiate," a person close to Schumer told the media. "He can resume funding with a simple snap of his fingers." Gillibrand also pointed out that New Yorkers "are already suffering from Trump's high tariffs" and yet, the president "continues to put his narcissism above union workers." "I demand that the president put people first and unfreeze this project and all the others that his administration has kept captive for his personal benefit," added the senator. New York Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler accused Trump of wanting to "extend his network of extortion" while withholding critical funds."Donald Trump's legacy will not be defined by where he stamped his name; it will be defined by the disaster he left on our nation's most important infrastructure project," Nadler stated in a message on X.
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His colleague Ritchie Torres, also a representative for New York, said the president is "pathologically stingy" and asserted that "there is no point in acceding to his ever-changing requests." Last October, the Department of Transportation froze $18 billion in funds affecting the Gateway project and other infrastructure plans. The project foresees a new tunnel and the modernization of the existing infrastructure under the Hudson River to improve the connection between New York and New Jersey. Both states sued the U.S. Government on Tuesday to force them to restore the frozen funds. In the year he has been in power, the Republican has renamed the Institute of Peace as the 'Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace' and has added his name to the now 'Trump-Kennedy Center'.
