Donald Trump tore up California's high-speed rail project amid impromptu remarks to Oval Office journalists on Tuesday, saying he intends to order an investigation into the extended train. [emphasis, links added]
Trump made remarks in response to questions about Elon Musk's efforts to take root in the administration.
He added:
I want to see what the rebate is [in USAID] yes. How much has you played? Who would spend this money on some of the things you have read, I read, I see them every night in the news, and every morning reading papers? I would say this: do people who get all the money kick it back to people in the government? No, to me, very, very corrupt. The real question is how many rebates there are.
One thing I want to investigate quickly because I have never seen anything, and the train built between Los Angeles and San Francisco is the worst project I think I have ever seen. And I've seen some of the worst things. Billions of dollars, billions of dollars exceeding the budget. Actually, I read that you can take everyone on the train and get the best limousine service in the world and ride back and forth in limousines with hundreds of billions of dollars left. This is the worst thing – we will start investigating this because it is impossible. I make a living and build a budget on time. It is impossible to spend too much.
Now, it doesn't even go to San Francisco, nor to Los Angeles. They made it shorter. So now it's in a small place, away from San Francisco, away from Los Angeles. No – We will start a massive investigation because I've never seen anything like that. No one has seen anything like that. The worst overspending in our national history.
Not even necessary. I'll say you don't mind – you're on a plane, spending $2, you know. You take a flight. But this began. If you need it, you drive. You can drive. They have hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns. And it's not even the same project. It's too short. It's outside of the roads outside San Francisco and Los Angeles. So, we will look at it.
When asked whether the Musk Administration Department of Efficiency (DOGE) would investigate California's high-speed rail project, Trump replied: “No, I have to do it myself.”
Trump's remarks put him on the horizon in another battle with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
Newsom canceled the legs of the train on San Francisco and Los Angeles in 2019, admitting it “spent too much” and “spent too long”. But he tried to keep the rural part of the train.
Trump immediately blocked the $1 billion of the project to California during his first term and tried to regain federal funds already spent.
President Joe Biden restored funds, but the project has made little progress.
Newsom and Biden then placed the weight behind a different high-speed rail project that would connect Los Angeles and Las Vegas and have private funds.
Trump did not mention the project.
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