President Donald Trump is pulling federal funding for one of California’s most ambitious—and controversial—projects as his feud with the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, rages on.
Trump announced that he had “officially freed” American taxpayers from funding the state’s long-planned high-speed train, calling the multibillion-dollar project a “Newscum SCAM” and a “HIGH SPEED TRAIN TO NOWHERE” in a Truth Social post Wednesday.
“This boondoggle, led by the incompetent Governor of California, Gavin Newscum, has cost Taxpayers Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we have received NOTHING in return except Cost Overruns,” the president wrote.
Newsom, who has positioned himself as a contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028, called the move a “gift to China” in a statement.
“Trump wants to hand China the future and abandon the Central Valley. We won’t let him,” Newsom said. “We’re now in the track-laying phase and building America’s only high-speed rail. California is putting all options on the table to fight this illegal action.”
Trump’s announcement Wednesday follows a report the Federal Railroad Administration sent to California’s high-speed rail authority in June, slamming the project for blowing past deadlines and running over budget.
The administration gave the state 30 days to respond to the report and warned that it would likely withdraw roughly $4 billion in federal funding; a $3.1 billion federal grant awarded under the Biden administration and $929 million awarded under the Obama administration in 2010.
Trump revoked the $929 million grant in 2019, but Joe Biden restored it in 2021 during his presidency.
When voters first approved funding for the project in 2008, the train was proposed as a high-speed commuter rail that would connect the Bay Area to Los Angeles in less than three hours and would be operational by 2020.
More than a decade later, the plan has been scaled back to a route between Mercedes and Bakersfield, two smaller cities in the state’s agricultural Central Valley, and projected costs have soared from $33 billion to $128 billion.
No tracks have been laid, but in May, Newsom’s office said 171 miles were under development, 119 miles under active construction, and 52 "major structures" had been built.
In a statement announcing the $4 billion funding cut, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: “This is California’s fault. Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal dollars are not a blank check—they come with a promise to deliver results.”
Newsom swiftly fired back on X, writing, “Won’t be taking advice from the guy who can’t keep planes in the sky”—a dig at repeated equipment meltdowns at U.S. airports during Duffy’s tenure at the Transportation Department.
