Trump Has California’s High-speed Rail In His Crosshairs Again

President Donald Trump has group his sights connected California’s high-speed obstruction plan, calling it “the worst-managed project” pinch monolithic costs overruns that merit to beryllium investigated.

“They personification hundreds of billions of dollars of costs overruns,” Trump told reporters successful nan Oval Office connected Tuesday, according to nan Los Angeles Times. “It’s intolerable that point could costs that much.”

A spokesperson for nan California High-Speed Rail Authority declined to remark connected nan record, alternatively posting to X, “Ignore nan noise. We’re engaged building.”

The authority too sought to respond to Trump’s claims that “hundreds of billions of dollars” personification been spent, noting that only $10.5 cardinal of $13 cardinal has been funded by nan authorities of California. The task has 50 awesome structures, 60 guideways, and has created 14,600 jobs, according to nan position connected X.

Those stats are improbable to matter overmuch to Trump, who canceled $1 cardinal successful nationalist backing successful 2019 during his first connection successful office. The reason, according to nan Federal Railroad Administration, was that nan task “repeatedly grounded to comply” pinch nan connection and “failed to make reasonable advancement connected nan project.”

The Biden guidance restored nan backing successful 2021 and later provided an further $3.1 cardinal arsenic information of an $8.2 cardinal finance successful high-speed obstruction that too included backing for a abstracted privately owned measurement betwixt Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Republicans personification consistently attacked these projects arsenic wasteful, peculiarly nan California project, which has spell emblematic of nan type of partisan fighting that hovers complete high-cost infrastructure projects.

In 2008, California voters gave their blessing for a 500-mile task that promised to proscription passengers betwixt LA and San Francisco successful nether 3 hours connected a afloat electrical train stepping astatine speeds of up to 220mph. By comparison, nan fastest train successful nan US presently is nan Acela, which runs connected nan Northeast Corridor and presently tops retired astatine 160mph — but only for definite sections.

The task has faced ongoing challenges, including uncertainty astir nationalist commitments. While immoderate advancement has been made, nan project’s estimated completion has been moved backmost by astir a decade, while costs estimates personification grown by billions of dollars. Supporters personification cited mediocre management, an overreliance connected consultants, and steep challenges successful onshore acquisition arsenic among nan astir persistent problems.

Elon Musk, successful particular, has spell a fierce master of high-speed rail. He sounded his strategy for nan hyperloop arsenic an replacement — gleaming pods flinging done airless tubes astatine supersonic speeds — but 1 he ne'er intended to build himself. He later told his biographer, Ashlee Vance, that he came up pinch nan thought to distract authorities elected officials and others from nan high-speed obstruction project, which was overmuch cumbersome by comparison.

The hyperloop ne'er materialized, pinch respective of nan companies that sought to admit Musk’s thought falling into bankruptcy. Meanwhile, California’s high-speed obstruction continued to plod along; nan authority expects a 171-mile agelong betwixt Merced and Bakersfield to beryllium completed betwixt 2030 and 2033.

Now that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has gained entree to cardinal levers of nan nationalist government, including nan Treasury Department’s costs systems, there’s a consequence that nan right-wing billionaire could simply move disconnected backing for nan project.

DOGE surely has high-speed obstruction successful its crosshairs. Before DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy stepped down to prosecute a tally for leader of Ohio, he called high-speed obstruction “a wasteful vanity project, burning billions successful payer cash, pinch mini imaginable for completion successful nan adjacent decade… Time to extremity nan waste.”

The authority is readying for contingencies if Trump again seeks to terminate nan nationalist government’s investment, pinch a state-appointed adjacent reappraisal group advising leaders to spot replacement plans for nan project.

Of course, high-speed obstruction would beryllium enormously beneficial to nan business and nan effort to conflict ambiance change, galore studies personification shown. By offering a viable, high-speed measurement connected a celebrated corridor, nan task could thief get group retired of their polluting cars and location airplanes and onto a overmuch environmentally friends mode of transportation.