President Donald Trump unveiled a sweeping plan Wednesday to transform Washington Dulles International Airport, promising to turn the aging facility into a world-class gateway to the nation’s capital.
Joined in the Oval Office by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officials, Trump announced a project valued at approximately $22.5 billion. Official materials describe the investment as totaling more than $20 billion over the next decade.
“It’s considered one of the worst airports anywhere in the world,” Trump said during the announcement. He pledged that the renovation would make Dulles one of the world’s best and largest airports, according to Anadolu Agency.
The ambitious project will create or renovate more than 5 million square feet while preserving the airport’s iconic main terminal, designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen. Trump described the distinctive structure as an “architectural landmark.”
Plans call for new and modernized concourses, additional gates, upgraded check-in areas, more efficient security screening and a larger U.S. Customs facility. Travelers would also gain closer parking, improved baggage-handling systems, expanded dining and shopping options and more airline lounges.
One of the most significant changes will be the retirement of Dulles’ aging mobile lounges, commonly called “people movers,” which have transported passengers across the tarmac since the airport opened in 1962.
An expanded AeroTrain network, a central pedestrian tunnel and additional moving walkways would replace the vehicles and provide easier access between the main terminal and airport gates. The current C and D concourses, which were constructed as temporary facilities in 1985, would also be eliminated.
“Say goodbye to those stale concourses, drab interior, endless walkways, and those absurd mobile lounges,” Duffy said in a joint project announcement.
The mobile lounges have long frustrated travelers, and concerns about them intensified after one struck a terminal docking structure in November 2025, sending 18 people to hospitals.
Trump took an unusually hands-on role in choosing the new airport design. Three-dimensional models were reportedly transported to the White House multiple times as the president reviewed proposals and offered changes involving parking, baggage systems, underground trains and the airport’s appearance.
Trump and administration officials examined more than 30 proposals before selecting the partnership between United Airlines and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, CBS News reported.
The selected design builds on Dulles’ existing infrastructure without requiring changes to the airport’s runways. It is expected to include four new linear concourses and a U-shaped AeroTrain system capable of reaching areas that the current train does not serve.
“Washington Dulles is the gateway that connects the nation’s capital to the world,” Kirby said in the Airports Authority’s announcement.
The Airports Authority and airlines serving Dulles will finance much of the work through municipal bonds, while other portions could be developed through public-private partnerships. The Associated Press reported that federal funding is not expected to finance the renovation.
Construction will occur in phases while the airport remains open. Work has already begun on Concourse E, the first section of which is scheduled to open later this year with 14 additional United gates, AeroTrain access and new passenger lounges.
The expansion comes after Dulles recorded nearly 29 million passengers in 2025, a 6.4% increase from the previous year. United operates the airport’s dominant hub and carries roughly two-thirds of its daily passengers.
Trump first publicly called for Dulles to be rebuilt in December, declaring that the airport had “a great building and a bad airport.”
Wednesday’s announcement now puts his administration behind one of the largest airport modernization projects in the country.
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