President Donald Trump plans to present a $22 billion blueprint to rebuild Washington Dulles International Airport, sources said, marking the latest large-scale infrastructure proposal focused on the national capital region.
The announcement at the White House will include United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The proposal is expected to call for four new concourses as part of a comprehensive reconstruction of the airport that functions as the primary international gateway for the Washington, D.C. area.
Transportation Secretary Duffy previously confirmed in May that the federal government intended a $22 billion overhaul of Dulles. The White House and United Airlines did not immediately provide comment on the planned unveiling.
United Airlines is the dominant carrier at Dulles, handling roughly 70% of the airport's traffic. Earlier this year on February 25, President Trump met with Kirby and others to discuss the airport's future; at that meeting, Kirby proposed a potential merger with American Airlines. Kirby later stopped pursuing a merger with American in April.
The plan follows public criticism and official observations that Dulles requires modernization. In December, President Trump said he had a new design in mind for the airport, calling it a facility with strong architectural elements but operational shortcomings. Critics have pointed to slow people-moving vehicles that ferry passengers across the tarmac; those vehicles are expected to be phased out under the proposed overhaul. The U.S. Department of Transportation in December also criticized a "jet fuel smell in the concourses" and said the main terminal had a "paltry" number of gates.
Dulles is operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority under a 50-year lease that was approved by Congress. The airports authority did not provide comment on the forthcoming federal plan.
Local planning has already moved forward to some degree. In 2025, the airport authority approved a master capital plan allocating at least $7 billion for work to overhaul Dulles in the coming years. How the broader $22 billion reconstruction will be funded remains unclear, and one immediate open question is how much the program will increase the cost of flights on a per-passenger basis.
The airport, located about 25 miles (40 km) from Washington, D.C., opened in 1962. It recorded a high-water mark in 2025, handling 29 million total passengers, an increase of 6.4% from the prior year. This fall, the airport is scheduled to open a new 435,000-square-foot (40,412-square-meter) concourse with 14 gates to serve United customers.
The airport's main terminal was designed by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen and is known for its distinctive sloping roof that rises on opposite sides. With the federal plan aiming at extensive reconstruction and additional concourses, officials, industry participants, and travelers will be watching closely for details about financing, timing, and operational impacts.
Context and next steps
The forthcoming White House event will formally present the administration's $22 billion proposal. With United Airlines a principal operator at Dulles and the airports authority already pursuing a multi-billion dollar capital plan, the announcement is likely to prompt further discussion about project scope, funding mechanisms, and the potential effects on airline operations and passenger costs.