The two New Yorkers behind Washington's Dulles megaproject
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Jack Potter right behind President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Trump seemed unusually chummy with the head of Washington's airports authority this week.
- "We'll make this a world-class airpawt," Jack Potter said of Dulles, with a New Yorker's lilt.
- Trump shook his hand. "Great job."
Turns out, Potter's a Bronx native, the son of a Manhattan mailman, and even went to Fordham to study economics just like Trump did seven years before him.
Why it matters: Two New Yorkers now hold in their hands the Washington area's biggest public works project in decades — a $22.5 billion undertaking that'll define their local legacies.
Zoom in: Picked to run the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority in 2011, Potter has stayed out of the limelight.
- He was previously the second-longest-serving U.S. Postmaster General, originally appointed by former President George W. Bush.
- Since arriving, he's overseen a $1 billion overhaul of Reagan National and the opening of the Dulles Metro station, but replacing Dulles' C and D concourses is the white whale. The old master plan would've spaced out upgrades over 60 years.
- "They were gonna start with a little section here, a little section there," Trump said, showing off a 3D mockup of the new airport with a laser pen.
Trump floated it could take two years. More realistic timelines say eight, with groundbreaking starting next summer.
- Potter's spokesperson declined an interview request, or details like whether he's a registered Republican, as Wikipedia claims.
- He once said on an MWAA podcast that "compromise" is the most important thing in government. That might explain how he's been able to navigate his job under multiple presidents and local leaders. It might become even more important with Trump's hands-on approach.
- "We've developed a great relationship with him," Trump said about Potter, who stood next to the Trump-nominated MWAA board member Trent Morse, the main link between the White House and the airport.
The Oval Office meeting might be the start of Trump's most consequential local project yet.
- Locals might not go for the Trump Tower aesthetic of gold panelings, but there's near-universal hate for the people movers, and why shouldn't the capital region have a great airport?
The intrigue: What might make-or-break its success, though, will be whether the costs get passed down to travelers. Some aviation watchers are already suggesting that'll happen if consumers get hit with $90 fees per flight.
💬 Town Talker is a column about money and power in Washington. Send me thoughts and tips: [email protected]