Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told senior members of Congress on Wednesday that the Trump administration wants to rename New York’s Penn Station as part of its priorities for the Manhattan hub’s projected $8 billion redesign.
The proposal targets America’s busiest train station, an underground hub in Manhattan that federal officials now want to reshape and rebrand. The letter does not say what the new name should be, but New York Democrats quickly linked the move to President Donald Trump and accused the administration of chasing a taxpayer-funded vanity project.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Congress he would direct Amtrak to rename New York Penn Station.
- The letter does not specify the station’s new name, but Trump has previously discussed “Trump Station.”
- New York Democrats accused the administration of using taxpayer money for a Trump vanity project.
- Transit advocates said officials should focus on service, time savings and costs instead of nameplates.
The administration has not publicly identified the replacement name
Image credits: Getty Images
Duffy’s letter, first reported by the New York Daily News and later covered by national outlets, laid out the administration’s transportation priorities and described them as a “vision for a bold transportation future.” At the top of that list was renaming Penn Station, according to AP reporting.
Duffy indicated that he would “direct Amtrak to rename New York Penn Station” as part of the federal push. The proposal lands as the administration pursues a massive redesign of the station, which remains widely known for its crowded, underground layout and heavy commuter traffic.
The administration has not publicly identified the replacement name in Duffy’s letter. Still, the debate escalated quickly because Trump has floated the idea of “Trump Station” before, and recently released renovation renderings show the station returning to its original classical style while one inside wall displays Trump’s seal and name.
Image credits: Getty Images
The battle also follows earlier reports that Trump said he would unfreeze more than $16 billion in federal funding for a New York infrastructure project if Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to rename both Penn Station and Virginia’s Dulles International Airport after him.
That project involves a new rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey, and the funds were reportedly frozen during a 2025 government shutdown.
Image credits: The White House / Flickr
Trump and Schumer have publicly disputed whose idea the renaming was. Speaking aboard Air Force One earlier this year, Trump said, “Chuck Schumer suggested that to me, about changing the name of Penn Station to Trump Station… But it was suggested to me by numerous people. Unions, Democrats, Republicans, a lot of people suggested it. But nothing’s been done on that.”
Schumer responded: “Absolute lie.”
Image credits: Getty Images
The Penn Station push also comes shortly after another major renaming tied to the president. On July 9, 2026, the airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, officially became President Donald J. Trump International Airport, marking the first time an airport has been named after a sitting U.S. president.
“[H]e doesn’t get to turn New York landmarks into monuments to himself”
Image credits: Getty Images
Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, accused the administration of trying to seize control of the project and turn it into a branding exercise.
“Now, after months of hiding from the public, Sean Duffy has confirmed that the Trump administration is waging a hostile takeover of Penn Station,” Nadler wrote on X
Since the very beginning of the Penn Station renovation project, I and other New York elected officials, community advocates, and local residents have called on the Trump administration to provide transparency on the process and funding. As the only member of the Transportation…
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) July 23, 2026
Nadler added that “New York taxpayers and transit riders must not be forced to foot the bill for a Trump vanity project.”
Schumer also blasted the idea in a statement, saying, “Donald Trump may want his name plastered across every building in America, but he doesn’t get to turn New York landmarks into monuments to himself,” according to NY1.
Image credits: PAU
Transit advocates argued that the fight over a name risks distracting from what riders actually need. “We should be talking about improving service, saving time and money, not monuments, ribbon cuttings or nameplates,” Danny Pearlstein, a spokesperson for the Riders Alliance, said in a statement.
Trump has previously rejected the idea that he started the push. In a Truth Social post from February, he wrote: “Also, the naming of PENN Station (I LOVE Pennsylvania, but it is a direct competitor to New York, and ‘eating New York’s lunch!’) to TRUMP STATION, was brought up by certain politicians and construction union heads, not me – IT IS JUST MORE FAKE NEWS!” The White House has not issued a new statement specifically addressing Wednesday’s letter.
For now, the administration’s letter confirms only that renaming Penn Station sits on its priority list. It does not settle what the station would be called, who would pay for any rebranding, or whether Congress will approve the broader funding package behind the $8 billion redesign.
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