No more federal money for California high-speed rail, Trump says
“We’re not going to fund that….it’s out of control.”
That was President Donald Trump Wednesday talking about federal aid to California’s high-speed rail line.
He called the line “one of the most incompetent things,” during an impromptu press conference on the White House lawn.
“It doesn’t go where it’s supposed to. It’s supposed to go from LA to San Francisco now, because they don’t have any money ... and they made it much shorter,” he said.
The president’s comments come after the results of a months-long audit of the project recently determined that Trump should rescind $4 billion from it. Trump has for weeks threatened the project’s federal funding, but it’s not immediately clear whether his administration has made a final decision on pulling back the jeopardized grants.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority did not have a new response to Trump’s latest threats Wednesday. The authority pointed out that its CEO, Ian Choudri, disputed the federal audit’s findings last week as he called the termination of $4 billion in grants “unwarranted and unjustified.”
Trump, referring to Gov. Gavin Newsom as “Newscum,” was also asked if his recent clash with the governor over the Los Angeles immigration protests would affect any other aid to California. The state has been seeking funds to help Los Angeles recover from January’s wildfires.
Such aid is usually almost automatic, but the White House has not sent a request to Congress for the funds. Earlier this year, some Republican leaders suggested there could be conditions attached.
“We shouldn’t have fires down here. You clean the floor of your fires, and you won’t have any fires,” Trump said.
He also said of Newsom, “Hatred is never a good thing in politics. When you don’t like somebody, don’t respect somebody, it’s harder for that person to get money.”
Earlier federal threats
Earlier this month, the federal Department of Transportation threatened to withhold about $4 billion in aid to the much-delayed rail project. The $4 billion — a combination of $929 million awarded in 2010 and $3 billion awarded in 2023 — is earmarked for key high-speed rail projects in the Central Valley, a region that has historically lacked the government investment seen in other parts of California.
But the federal government’s report determined the Trump administration should rescind the jeopardized money on the grounds that the California rail authority has broken the terms of the two grant agreements.
It cited a “trail of project delays, mismanagement, waste and skyrocketing costs.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy found “CHSRA (high-speed rail authority) has no viable path to complete this project on time or on budget.”
The rail line, aimed at one day going from San Francisco to Los Angeles, has gotten about $6.9 billion in federal money over the last 15 years. Its current focus is on the completion of a Central Valley segment, where construction is underway on about 119 miles.
Even with Washington’s backing, the department said the project is “far short” of the money it needs to finish the Central Valley part of the track, which is planned to span 172 miles.
At the time, the rail authority told The Fresno Bee that the department’s findings were misguided and did not reflect the project’s progress.
Work will continue
The agency remains committed to the train’s completion. And, it said, “While continued federal partnership is important to the project, the majority of our funding has been provided by the state.”
Last week, Choudri, the rail authority CEO, responded officially to the federal findings, calling them an “inaccurate, often outright misleading, presentation of the evidence.”
Choudri disputed the federal government’s conclusions that minimal progress is being made on construction and that the authority has no plan to fill the funding gap impeding the Central Valley rail’s completion.
The CEO has said the project’s first tracks will be laid next year in the Central Valley. The project is also expecting $1 billion annually through a state program that raises money from companies that buy credits to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed that program be extended and commit to funding the high-speed rail through 2045.
“In fact, the Authority has several options and opportunities for addressing funding needs,” Choudri said in his response to the federal government.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 9:09 AM with the headline "No more federal money for California high-speed rail, Trump says."
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