The Trump administration stuck it to potential 2028 presidential hopeful Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), when they gutted funds from his “build more, faster” agenda.
President Donald Trump, alongside Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, declared Wednesday that approximately $4 billion in unused federal funds earmarked for California’s high-speed rail endeavor would be rescinded.
The project, once touted as a transformative leap in U.S. infrastructure, has repeatedly drawn scrutiny for its cost overruns, endless delays, and embarrassingly minimal results.
The decision followed a scathing 315-page report from the Department of Transportation released last month, in which the Trump administration had hinted at the potential funding withdrawal.
On Truth Social, Trump addressed Americans directly: “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.'”
He accused Newsom of squandering public funds, writing, “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 Railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will.”
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.” This boondoggle, led by the incompetent Governor of… pic.twitter.com/b3SG9yVtiO
— Bruce LeVell (@Bruce_LeVell) July 16, 2025
“This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED,” Trump continued.
“Thanks to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, not a SINGLE penny in Federal Dollars will go towards this Newscum SCAM ever again.”
The project began with ambitious goals in 2008, when California voters approved an 800-mile high-speed rail network linking San Francisco and Los Angeles, extending to Sacramento and San Diego.
The initiative was expected to cost $33 billion and be completed by 2020.
However, by 2019, Governor Newsom admitted that the full vision of the project was no longer feasible.
Gavin Newsom is crying because President Trump canceled the California high-speed rail that burned through tens of billions of taxpayer dollars and never laid a single track. pic.twitter.com/gSMDty8vwq
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) July 17, 2025
With the cost inflating to over $77 billion, the scope was narrowed to a 171-mile segment between Merced and Bakersfield. The plan was eventually scaled back even further to just 119 miles.
Despite having spent nearly $7 billion over 15 years, the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) had failed to lay a single mile of track, according to data from the Department of Transportation.
The current estimated price tag for the downsized project has reportedly skyrocketed to $135 billion.
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On Wednesday, Drew Feeley, acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, informed CHSRA CEO Ian Choudri that the agency would officially withdraw funding.
The letter cited CHSRA’s failure to meet its obligations under a 2010 federal agreement and its inability to meet a revised deadline of December 31, 2033.
Feeley wrote that the agency found the current project failed to fulfill the purpose for which the 2010 funds were originally authorized.
“Canceling these grants without cause isn’t just wrong — it’s illegal,” Choudri claimed. “These are legally binding agreements, and the Authority has met every obligation, as confirmed by repeated federal reviews, as recently as February 2025.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has also ordered the FRA to work with the Department of Justice to explore recovering federal funds already distributed to the project.
Duffy made his view clear in a scathing statement. “This is California’s fault. Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years,” he said.
“Federal dollars are not a blank check – they come with a promise to deliver results,” Duffy added.
“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.”
Duffy described the now-terminated effort as a prime example of bloated government failure.
“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.”
Won’t be taking advice from the guy who can’t keep planes in the sky. https://t.co/OtPHLLQQyh
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 17, 2025
In a post on X, Duffy further criticized the state initiative. “The price tag has gone from $33B to $135B with no completion date in sight,” he wrote. “We could give every single LA & SF resident almost 200 free flights for that much.”
“That’s why TODAY we’re pulling the plug on federal funding for this train to nowhere,” he wrote. “I won’t help Gavin Newsom waste your money!”
Newsom quickly fired back online, using recent national aviation incidents to swipe at Duffy’s leadership.
“Won’t be taking advice from the guy who can’t keep planes in the sky,” he replied to Duffy’s post.
Round of applause for @realDonaldTrump and @SecDuffy on handing China the future and abandoning the Central Valley — again!
But sorry to disappoint: We're not letting that happen. https://t.co/851da27Y8Y
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) July 17, 2025
He also hinted that California might legally challenge the federal move. “Round of applause for [Trump] and [Duffy] on handing China the future and abandoning the Central Valley — again!” he wrote. “But sorry to disappoint: We’re not letting that happen.”
Newsom claimed that CHSRA was already laying track along the 171-mile route and building infrastructure across the Central Valley.
“We will be exploring all options to fight this illegal action,” he said.
Go Trump! Saving tax payer money from the scum Newsum Gruesum is a great idea. That greasey jerk is too stupid to run something with our money correctly and this points it out clearly. If you want stupid like Kamala vote for this grease ball for anything but he is not even qualified for a dog catcher job!
Who is going to prison for all of the Billions of $$$ that have been gone missing?