Josh Gerben Discusses Trump Airport Deal with Forbes

Palm Beach International Airport has been renamed after Donald Trump. Shortly after the renaming was announced, Trump Org filed trademarks to protect the name of the airport and signed a licensing agreement with Palm Beach County.

Josh Gerben discussed the licensing agreement and renaming with Forbes.

“The way the license agreement is worded is that the Trump Organization is not allowed to make any money off of goods sold at the airport,” Josh Gerben, founder and managing partner of Gerben IP, a trademark law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., told Forbes.

But that stipulation doesn’t apply to merchandise sold at nearby Mar-a-Lago. Any sales made at “off-airport premises would be fair game,” says Gerben.

“The Trump airport renaming happened very quickly,” Gerben told Forbes. “Florida had to pass a law to make it happen and we’re still talking about a matter of months. That’s unusual, and obviously something they wanted to do while [Trump] was still president.”

Source: Kelleher, Suzanne Rowan. https://www.forbes.com. “How Trump Could Profit From Fast-Tracked Rebrand of Palm Beach’s Airport”. 20 July 2026.