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Mediaite founder Dan Abrams\u00a0<\/strong>was shocked that reports of President Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>proposed deal to lift a funding freeze if his name is put on Penn Station were real, telling panelists on CNN<\/em> NewsNight\u00a0<\/em>he originally \u201cthought this was a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n Abrams joined host\u00a0Abby Phillip <\/strong>on Thursday alongside CNN\u2019s\u00a0Scott Jennings,\u00a0<\/strong>Ashley Allison, Bill Stepian, <\/strong>and\u00a0Deja Fox\u00a0<\/strong>to discuss the quid pro quo, first reported by Punchbowl News.<\/p>\n Trump demanded that Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer<\/strong> (D-NY) agree to put Trump\u2019s name on Penn Station in New York and Washington\u2019s Dulles International Airport in exchange for an end to the president\u2019s freeze on $16 billion that had been slated for a new rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe you\u2019re actually defending this one,\u201d Abrams said to Jennings, before turning to Deja Fox. \u201cI mean, I can\u2019t believe this is real. I mean, I agree with you. I thought this was a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennings pushed back on Abrams, asking what was wrong with the trade.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with him demanding certain things in exchange for naming it after him? You don\u2019t think that that\u2019s kind of bonkers?\u201d Abrams shot back.<\/p>\n The Trump administration froze the funding during last fall\u2019s government shutdown. New York and New Jersey sued the administration this week in federal court in Manhattan. Construction remains ongoing, but may be halted as early as Friday due to lack of funds.<\/p>\n Trump told Schumer he was prepared to unfreeze the money if he agreed to back a plan to rename Penn Station and Dulles International after himself, two people familiar with the conversation told Punchbowl News. Schumer rejected the idea, telling Trump he did not have the authority to make the change.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to trade,\u201d a source close to Schumer told Punchbowl. \u201cThe president stopped the funding and can restart the funding with a snap of his fingers.\u201d<\/p>\n