MIAMI – Public safety, legal liability and the president’s personal profit margins are on the line in the high-stakes, closed-door negotiations between Donald Trump’s affiliated companies and Palm Beach County over the renaming of the county airport.

Before the county can start physically changing the signs from Palm Beach International to Donald J. Trump International Airport, the county has to reach a deal on licensing the trademark for Trump’s name.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law last week that ties the airport renaming to the county receiving the “perpetual and unrestricted right” to use the name from the Trump-linked companies, which filed in February to trademark the new airport name. There are key details being hashed out — including how the county and Trump’s companies divvy up profits from the sale of Trump airport-branded items.

County commissioners have not voted on the airport renaming, but emails obtained by the Miami Herald through a records request show county staffers privately raised a litany of financial, safety and legal concerns about the name change to state lawmakers late last year. Many of the county’s initially proposed changes didn’t make it into the law.

In December, for example, county staff requested language in the bill requiring Trump’s companies to “indemnify and hold harmless” county and state governments over the name change — ensuring the county won’t be sued at taxpayer expense — and allow the county to “sublicense” the airport’s new name for businesses at the airport.

That language isn’t in the new law. Instead, the extent to which the public is protected from potential fallout of the renaming will largely depend on what Trump’s company says yes to.

County staff told the Herald there won’t be a deal if there aren’t sufficient public protections.

“The name change is contingent on the trademark agreement being executed,” Alessandro Marchesani, the county’s legislative director, said during a conference call with the Herald.

County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo added that without an agreement, “everything is in a holding pattern.”

He said Trump’s companies have been “professional, responsive, and constructive to work with,” but he doesn’t “do deals that are one-sided.”

A litany of other concerns

Records show county officials raised financial concerns to state lawmakers in December, writing that the airport renaming “confers a commercial benefit upon the president and his companies” and questioned whether the county should be compensated for handing free publicity over to Trump.

The logistical cost of implementing the name change amounts to $5.5 million, according to airport officials. About half of that price tag was reflected in the Senate’s budget proposal. The county has not yet been allocated a cent for the project, but Abruzzo said he’s been assured by lawmakers that the full amount is coming later this year.

Some of the other concerns the county raised in December:

•Other critical projects like “roof and elevator replacement” could be hampered by the resources siphoned for the airport’s renaming, which could “compromise airport safety.”

•The airport renaming raises “security concerns” because it will likely lead to “increased requests for individuals to exercise First Amendment rights at the airport, including protesting, picketing and distribution of materials,” according to a county memo.

•Those security threats also include the increased risk of an active shooting situation and increased costs for security, the county said. “Recent security threats at, and near the airport, including a potential active shooter event and events involving the President, highlight this as a valid concern,” administrators wrote.

•The county said the bill does not limit how often the state can rename an airport, meaning the county could be on the line to pay for another rebrand following new political tides.

•Changing the signs will require significant time, and the state’s initial July 1, 2026 deadline was “not feasible” given the contracting, construction and logistical hurdles.

After raising these concerns to state lawmakers, county administrators eventually agreed to a pared-down version of the initial amendment they proposed. The county had asked for an extension to 2028 to complete the name change; the signed version of the law gives the county an open-ended time frame instead.

County officials told the Herald this week that the vast majority of the initial concerns laid out in January are no longer a problem — as long as the state coughs up the $5.5 million for the project.

“Many of these concerns were carefully considered by both the House and Senate, and funding for the renaming has been secured at the state level,” Rep. Meg Weinberger, the Palm Beach Gardens Republican who sponsored the name change bill, said in a statement. “The Legislature took deliberate steps to ensure this effort does not come at the expense of safety or critical infrastructure.”

Ongoing profit negotiations

The county also agreed to a pared-down version of its proposed changes because the renaming is tied to the pending trademark deal, giving administrators another avenue to negotiate protections.

A company affiliated with the Trump organization filed trademark applications in February clearing the way for the newly required agreement with the county, but also raising concerns from outside attorneys that his family and businesses would profit off the airport name change.

Other airports named after presidents aren’t trademarked to companies managed by the honoree or their families. Reagan National Airport’s trademark, for example, is owned by the public entity that operates the airport — not a private company.

The Trump Organization said in a statement at the time, “The Trump Organization is, and always has been, willing to provide this right to his hometown county at no charge,” and that “the President and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee, or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming.”

Abruzzo said the county’s initial financial concerns about lost branding could be mitigated by what they expect to be an uptick in the sale of Trump-branded items at the airport.

“From a branding standpoint, if you’re talking about revenue on PBI, we do not make much money at all in the sales of PBI items, t-shirts, pens, et cetera. Actually we anticipate revenues going up for the county from the name change,” Abruzzo said.

But the revenue split from those items is yet to be determined, he said, leaving yet another factor up to closed-door negotiations — including the extent to which the president’s companies may profit from the public funds funneled to the renaming.

Weinberger, the state lawmaker, told the Herald the profit share on Trump-branded items didn’t come up in the legislative process and that it’ll be up to the trademark agreement.

“That is part of the negotiations,” Abruzzo said when the Herald asked about revenue split.

He added that the president and his team have been “excellent” to work with. “We haven’t hit any snags so far, very professional,” he said. “I believe both sides are working and we’ll hopefully land the plane — no pun intended — very soon.”

©2026 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.