Trump Floats Naming Alabama Bridge After Himself At Mobile Rally

President Donald Trump suggested that Alabama's new Mobile River Bridge could be named after him during a campaign rally in Mobile on Oct. 2, shortly after the project broke ground.

President Donald Trump floats the idea of naming Alabama's new Mobile River Bridge after himself. [Photo: Mobile River Bridge and Bayway]

Trump highlighted the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project during his rally at the University of South Alabama's Mitchell Center. The long-planned infrastructure project is expected to cost about $3.2 billion, according to local reporting.

“Maybe they'll name the damn bridge after me,” Trump said during the rally. “I'll be happy.”

He also praised federal support for the project.

The Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project officially broke ground earlier that day at Cooper Riverside Park. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Sen. Tommy Tuberville and other state and federal officials attended the ceremony.

The project's financing is more complicated than Trump's description of the federal contribution suggests.

Alabama's Department of Transportation has identified a $550 million federal Bridge Investment Program grant, while a $2.52 billion federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan has also been arranged for the project.

Trump's rally also drew attention because photographs and videos showed unoccupied sections of the Mitchell Center.

However, there is no reliable official attendance figure establishing that voters “boycotted” the event.

The arena has a capacity of about 10,000, but empty sections alone do not establish a boycott or explain why some seats were unoccupied.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Doug Jones, who held a separate event in Mobile that evening, criticized Trump's focus on the bridge and said he believed Trump was campaigning to have the bridge named after him.

Those comments were political criticism and are presented as such.

The Mobile River Bridge project is one of Alabama's largest transportation projects and is intended to improve the Interstate 10 connection between Mobile and Alabama's Eastern Shore.