The costly engine that never has — and likely never will — is no longer going to eat up federal dollars while going nowhere, according to President Donald Trump.
“To the Law abiding, Tax paying, Hardworking Citizens of the United States of America, I am thrilled to announce that I have officially freed you from funding California’s disastrously overpriced, ‘HIGH SPEED TRAIN TO NOWHERE,’” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“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.”
Donald J. Trump Truth Social 07.16.25 07:28 PM EST
To the Law abiding, Tax paying, Hardworking Citizens of the United States of America, I am thrilled to announce that I have officially freed you from funding California’s disastrously overpriced, “HIGH SPEED TRAIN TO NOWHERE.”…
— Fan Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) July 16, 2025
The high-speed rail project between Los Angeles and San Francisco was initially approved in 2008 via referendum and broke ground in 2012, as The New York Times reported in 2022. But as Trump noted, not much of substance took place.
Governor Newsom and California’s high speed rail boondoggle are the definition of government incompetence and possibly corruption.
The price tag has gone from $33B to $135B with no completion date in sight.
We could give every single LA & SF resident almost 200 free flights… pic.twitter.com/19lyBzPZ62
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) July 16, 2025
“The Railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will. This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED,” Trump wrote.
“Thanks to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, not a SINGLE penny in Federal Dollars will go towards this Newscum SCAM ever again. This was an ill-conceived and unnecessary project, and a total waste of Taxpayer money — But no more!”
Should this project be scrapped?
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news release that taking his money away was illegal and that Trump was acting just as something was actually happening, asserting the project was “enter[ing] the track laying phase.”
“Trump wants to hand China the future and abandon the Central Valley. We won’t let him,” Newsom said, without explaining how China benefits.
“With projects like the Texas high-speed rail failing to take off, we are miles ahead of others. 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.”
The High-Speed Rail Authority is now claiming it’s made “substantial progress to deliver high-speed rail in California.” In fact, there has not been an inch of track laid in 17 years.
The original promise was to have an LA to SF train operational by 2020. pic.twitter.com/BWBADG3fst
— Rep. Kevin Kiley (@RepKiley) July 9, 2025
Newsom noted that at the rate the project is going, passengers could board the trains sometime between 2030 and 2033.
In a news release, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a $4 billion grant to the state was terminated on the grounds that after the project gobbled $15 billion, it was simply sending good money after bad.
“The $135 billion projected total cost of the project could buy every San Francisco and L.A. resident nearly 200 roundtrip flights between the cities,” the release 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,” Duffy said.
“After over a decade of failures, CHSRA’s mismanagement and incompetence has proven it cannot build its train to nowhere on time or on budget,” he continued, citing the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
“It’s time for this boondoggle to die. President Trump and I will always fight to ensure your tax dollars only go to projects that accomplish great, big, beautiful things.”
The release said that the state authority overseeing the project “simply cannot meet its obligations under the grant agreement” and said a federal review determined that there was no hope of carrying passengers by 2033.
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