--- title: President Trump Just Held a Signing. He Had Nothing to Sign description: The President wasn't actually signing something that would have any tangible impact on what he had just proposed. canonical: https://time.com/4805726/donald-trump-air-traffic-privatization-document-signing/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-05T17:13:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:05:34.509Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Just Held a Signing. He Had Nothing to Sign og:description: He signed "a decision memo and letter transmitting legislative principles" og:url: https://time.com/4805726/donald-trump-air-traffic-privatization-document-signing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18815b4bc36634cd/6988d026cd1bba2c907057f0/trump-air-traffic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Just Held a Signing. He Had Nothing to Sign twitter:description: He signed "a decision memo and letter transmitting legislative principles" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18815b4bc36634cd/6988d026cd1bba2c907057f0/trump-air-traffic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Just Held a Signing. He Had Nothing to Sign > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=0ac5f918-caf7-483a-b643-580e4cec49d0&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump Revealed His Plan to Privatize Air Traffic Control [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Revealed His Plan to Privatize Air Traffic Control](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2irUAs84.m3u8) (1:13)  _Published 2017-06-05. President Donald Trump released his plan to take air traffic control away from the FAA and make it private._  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 5, 2017 5:13 PM UTC President Donald Trump released his plan to take air traffic control away from the FAA and make it private.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 5, 2017 5:13 PM UTC After announcing his goal to [privatize](http://fortune.com/2017/06/05/white-house-infrastructure-week-privatization/) the nation’s Air Traffic Control System, [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4805091/donald-trump-travel-ban-justice-department/) sat down at a desk on Monday and signed two documents. There was only one problem: He wasn’t actually signing something that would have any tangible impact on what he had just proposed. A [White House](http://time.com/4796896/president-donald-trump-white-house-shake-up-russia/) aide told reporters Trump had signed a “a decision memo and letter transmitting legislative principles to Congress,” surrounding the privatization of the Air Traffic Control system, which he had just spent the last few minutes advocating for. But in order for his goal to come to fruition, [Congress](http://time.com/4798913/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-subpoena/) would need to pass legislation implementing it. Before Trump gave remarks Monday, White House officials had told reporters that the President is only dictating his legislative goals of separating air traffic controls from the FAA. Congress is not required to follow through on these goals. Trump’s proposal was actually based on legislation introduced by Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Bill Shuster, the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The bill never made it to the House floor for a vote and [reportedly faced bipartisan opposition](https://www.wsj.com/articles/faa-restructuring-is-grounded-by-senate-opposition-1464907321) in the Senate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4805726/donald-trump-air-traffic-privatization-document-signing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4805726/donald-trump-air-traffic-privatization-document-signing/"},"headline":"President Trump Just Held a Signing. 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