‘POLITICAL RETRIBUTION’

Trump Administration Cancels Nearly $1 Billion Grant for California High-Speed Rail Project

Gov. Newsom accuses Trump of carrying out petty revenge.

The Trump administration is canceling $929 million in grant funds for California’s high-speed rail system. The move escalates a war or words between President Trump and the state of California as the administration now tries to claw back all the federal money given for the curbed rail project. California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that he was scrapping the full project because it was too expensive. Alongside its announcement that it was canceling the $929 million, the Transportation Department also said it was “actively exploring every legal option” to get back an additional $2.5 billion grant that is being used to fund a rail line in the Central Valley, the Los Angeles Times reports. Newsom vowed to block the move, dismissing it as petty politics. “It’s no coincidence that the administration’s threat comes 24 hours after California led 16 states in challenging the president’s farcical ‘national emergency,’” Newsom said. “This is clear political retribution by President Trump, and we won’t sit idly by. This is California’s money, and we are going to fight for it.”

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