WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration will embark on a reconstruction of Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia.
“We’re also going to rebuild Dulles airport because it’s not a good airport,” Trump said during a meeting of his Cabinet members at the White House. “It should be a great airport, and it’s not a good airport at all. It’s a terrible airport.”
Dulles is one of the three Washington-area airports and its quality is a hotly-debated topic among Washingtonians.
Trump, a former real estate mogul, said the Dulles building was “incorrectly designed.” He nonetheless praised Eero Saarinen, the Finnish-American architect who designed the main terminal at Dulles.
“We’re going to turn that around and we’re going to make Dulles airport -- serving Washington and Virginia, Maryland, etc. -- we’re gonna make that into something really spectacular. We have an amazing plan for it.”
His motorcade took an unannounced drive through Dulles in early November. At the time, the White House said Trump wanted to take the detour to the airport to assess potential future projects.
During Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy singled out the controversial “people movers” that ferry travelers in between concourses. One of the vehicles, which are also called “mobile lounges,” crashed in November.
Still, some experts questioned the substance of Trump's Dulles remarks.
Sheldon H. Jacobson, an airport security and aviation infrastructure expert whose research contributed to the design of TSA PreCheck, called the president’s announcement a “head-scratcher,” noting it comes amid substantial modernization work already underway at Dulles, including a new 14-gate concourse set to open next year that will give passengers direct access to its AeroTrain system.
“I can think of a lot higher priorities right now,” he said, pointing to the long-needed updates to the nation’s aging air traffic control equipment. Trump said Tuesday that his administration was also working on modernizing the air traffic control system.
Jacobson said the airport’s continued reliance on people movers remains a “glaring weakness,” but added that “there are a lot of things actually in very good shape at Dulles right now,” including the AeroTrain.
“I’m not sure what he’s thinking,” Jacobson said of Trump. “His comments are non sequitur to the reality of this airport.”
The Transportation Department announced later Tuesday that it is inviting bids for a Dulles project that would build “completely new terminals and concourses” at the airport. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said in a statement that it will work with the Transportation Department to build upon the existing $7 billion plan to improve Dulles.
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Associated Press writers Rio Yamat in Las Vegas and Josh Funk in Omaha contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
FILE - A sign of Washington Dulles International Airport station is seen during the opening of new Silver Line Extension at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., Nov. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was set to address the nation Wednesday night and offer an update on the war in Iran, his first prime-time speech since launching strikes alongside Israel more than a month ago.
The speech will offer Trump a wide audience to articulate clear objectives for the war that could attempt to reconcile weeks of changing goals and often contradictory messages about whether he’s winding down or ready to escalate military operations — even as Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors and airstrikes pounded Tehran.
It comes amid rising oil prices, volatile financial markets and polling showing many Americans feel the U.S. military has gone too far in Iran — even as more American troops move into the region for a possible ground offensive. Trump opted not to deliver such an address closer to when the U.S. and Israel first launched attacks 4 1/2 weeks ago, and questions now remain about whether it is now too late for what he says to break through.
A White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the address and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the president will talk about the U.S. progress on achieving his goals in Iran and will reiterate his estimated timeline for concluding operations within two to three weeks.
In a social media post Wednesday morning, Trump maintained a belligerent tone, demanding that Iran stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway vital to global oil supplies — or the U.S. would bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages.” The president has also said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” ensuring the security of ships passing through Hormuz — an apparent backtrack from a previous threat to attack Iran’s power grid if it didn’t open the strait by April 6.
In another post, he claimed that “Iran’s New Regime President” wanted a ceasefire. It wasn’t clear to whom the U.S. president was referring since Iran still has the same president. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, called Trump’s claim “false and baseless,” according to a report on Iranian state television.
Speaking earlier to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting. “You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.”
Hours before Trump’s address, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted a lengthy letter in English on his X account appealing to U.S. citizens and stressing that his country had pursued negotiations before the U.S. withdrew from that path. “Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war?” he wrote.
Since the war began on Feb. 28, Trump has offered shifting objectives and repeatedly has said it could be over soon while also threatening to widen the conflict. Thousands of additional U.S. troops are currently heading to the Middle East, and speculation abounds about why.
Trump has also threatened to attack Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub. And the U.S. could decide to send in military forces to secure Iran’s uranium stockpile — a complex and risky operation, fraught with radiation and chemical dangers, experts and former government officials say.
Adding to the confusion is what role Israel — which has been bombing Iran alongside the U.S. — might play in any of these scenarios.
Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war that has been pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other goods. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, is up more than 40% since the start of the war.
The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan aimed at bringing about a ceasefire, including a demand for the strait to be reopened and for its nuclear program to be rolled back.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. And in a report last week by Iranian state TV's English-language broadcaster, an anonymous official was quoted as saying Iran had its own demands to end the fighting, including retaining sovereignty over the strait.
In the interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the U.S. could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”
He warned against any U.S. attempt to launch a ground offensive, saying “we are waiting for them.”
In a deal ostensibly to give diplomacy a chance, U.S. officials have given “clear assurances” that Araghchi and Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf won't be targeted, according to three officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
A cruise missile slammed into an oil tanker off Qatar’s coast Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said. The crew was evacuated and no casualties were reported. A Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai the day before, one of more than 20 ships attacked by Iran during the war.
In the United Arab Emirates, a person was killed when he was hit by debris from an intercepted drone in Fujairah, one of the country’s seven emirates.
In Kuwait, the state-run KUNA news agency said a drone hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a large fire.
Jordan’s military said it intercepted a ballistic missile and two drones fired from Iran in the last 24 hours. No casualties were reported. Two drones were also intercepted in Saudi Arabia.
Very early on Thursday, Israel’s military said Iran had launched missiles at the country, the first time of the day.
In Lebanon, at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut neighborhood.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the war.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
Grambell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
A young girl is comforted by her father and Israeli soldiers as they take cover in a bomb shelter during air raid sirens warning of incoming Iranian missile strikes in Bnei Brak, Israel, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People inspect the site of an Israeli strike amid debris and damaged vehicles in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man feeds stray cats in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Firefighters and rescue workers work at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israel's rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A police vehicle is seen through a shattered windshield at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Two men ride scooters past charred debris at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
