President Donald Trump suggested Friday that Alabama's long-awaited Mobile Bay bridge project could bear his name, reviving a familiar theme of attaching his brand to major public landmarks. Speaking at a rally in Mobile, Trump highlighted the groundbreaking earlier in the day of the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, a decades-in-the-making infrastructure effort expected to cost more than $4 billion. "All made possible with $3 billion in funding from the Trump administration," Trump told supporters, referring to federal support for the project.
He then floated the possibility of giving the bridge his name. "Maybe I'll be happy, and they'll name the damn bridge after me," Trump said. "Then I'll say, have all the overruns you want, make it just absolutely the greatest bridge in the world." The comments came hours after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the project connecting Mobile with communities across Alabama's Eastern Shore.
Trump and his allies have touted the federal funding commitment as a major infrastructure achievement for the state. According to Alabama officials, the project is the largest infrastructure development in state history. The first phase includes construction of a new six-lane cable-stayed bridge over the Mobile River that will connect to the existing Bayway corridor between Mobile and Daphne.
The initial phase is fully funded and is expected to be completed by 2031. A second phase, which remains unfunded, would replace the existing Bayway with a new elevated interstate structure spanning Mobile Bay. The bridge has long been a political issue in Alabama, where congestion along the I-10 corridor has frustrated residents, commuters and businesses for years.
Trump's comments did not emerge out of nowhere. Earlier Friday, Republican Representative Barry Moore, who is running for Senate, reportedly suggested naming the structure the "Gateway to America Donald J. Trump Bridge." The idea has circulated among some Trump supporters in Alabama as construction plans have moved forward.
Former Democratic Senator Doug Jones mocked the concept on social media before the rally, arguing that Trump was more focused on a personal legacy project than on campaigning. Jones also noted that Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville had previously opposed portions of the bridge funding debate. Trump has frequently attached his name to buildings, projects and institutions throughout his business and political career.
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