Key takeaways:
- The Dulles overhaul is expected to cost about $22 billion and include five new terminals, expanded underground train service, a pedestrian tunnel and more moving walkways.
- The plan would remove Dulles’s aging mobile lounges, which the Transportation Department criticized as inefficient and which were involved in a crash last November that injured at least 18 people.
- United Airlines, which handles roughly 70% of Dulles traffic, has agreed to help finance the project, while the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is expected to fund much of the work through new bonds, according to the Washington Post.
President Donald Trump is set to announce a $22 billion overhaul of Washington Dulles International Airport, a sweeping project expected to replace aging terminals, expand underground transit and eliminate the airport’s long-criticized mobile lounges.
The announcement is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at the White House, where Trump is expected to appear with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The Guardian reported that United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby and officials from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Dulles under a 50-year lease from Congress, are also expected to attend.
The plan is expected to include five new terminals to replace the airport’s existing four, according to The Guardian. It also calls for expanding the underground train system so passengers no longer have to rely on the airport’s “mobile lounges,” the slow-moving shuttle vehicles that carry travelers across the tarmac to and from gates. A new underground pedestrian tunnel and additional moving walkways are also planned.
NBC News reported, citing a senior White House official and another person familiar with the plan, that the makeover will include new terminals and the removal of the airport’s aging people movers. The Guardian reported that people briefed on the proposal said the approved design uses glass and gold, including gold-mirrored ceilings throughout the terminals.
Trump has criticized Dulles for months. His motorcade took a detour through the northern Virginia airport last October to “assess potential future projects,” the White House said at the time. At a December Cabinet meeting, Trump said, “We’re also going to rebuild Dulles Airport because it’s not a good airport. It should be a great airport. It’s not a good airport at all. It’s a terrible airport.”
The Transportation Department issued a sharply worded description of the airport the same day, saying Dulles is “known for its dated facilities, inefficient system of people movers that deliver passengers as much as a half mile away from their gates, its moon-rover-like ‘mobile lounges,’ jet fuel smell in the concourses, and a paltry number of gates at the main terminal.”
Dulles, named for former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, was formally dedicated by President John F. Kennedy in 1962. It is one of three Washington-area airports and serves as the region’s main international gateway.
The Washington Post reported that United, which handles roughly 70% of traffic at Dulles, has agreed to help finance the project, which is expected to take years and cost more than $20 billion. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is expected to fund much of the work through new bond issuances, according to the Post. The authority had already approved a separate $7 billion capital plan for the airport in 2025. United and the airport authority did not immediately respond to The Guardian’s requests for comment.
Complaints about Dulles intensified after a mobile lounge collided with a concourse dock last November, injuring at least 18 people. The Guardian reported that a Trump-appointed member of the airport authority’s board later cited the crash as another reason to retire the shuttles.
Dulles handled a record 29 million passengers in 2025, up 6.4% from the previous year, and is set to open a new 14-gate concourse for United this autumn, according to The Guardian.
The Dulles plan follows other Trump-backed construction and renovation efforts in Washington, including a proposed White House ballroom, changes to the Oval Office, work on the National Mall Reflecting Pool and advocacy for a large arch in the city. The administration has also previously shown interest in renaming Dulles. NBC News reported in February that the administration had asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to support naming Dulles and New York’s Penn Station after Trump in exchange for releasing federal funds for a long-delayed New York-New Jersey tunnel. The funds were later released without such an agreement.
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