Trump admin slashes funding for California’s over-budget, behind schedule high-speed rail

The high-speed rail line, originally intended to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles in under three hours, has faced years of delays, budget overruns, and reduced scope.

Trump announced on his Truth Social account, “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 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.”

Trump’s Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, echoed the criticism in a press release, laying the blame squarely at the feet of California leadership. “This is California’s fault,” Duffy stated. “Federal dollars are not a blank check – they come with a promise to deliver results.”

According to the Trump administration, California has spent $15 billion on the project, and yet “not one high-speed track has been laid” by the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA). Current construction efforts cover only a 119-mile segment between Bakersfield and Merced — a far cry from the original statewide vision.

In response, Newsom said, “Trump wants to hand China the future and abandon the Central Valley. We won’t let him,” Newsom said. “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 California high-speed rail project has been plagued by setbacks and cost overruns since it began. First approved by voters in 2008, the original plan promised a bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles for around $33 billion. Since then, the budget has ballooned to an estimated $128 billion, while the timeline for completion has continually shifted.

As of July 2025, construction is limited to the Central Valley segment, with track-laying just beginning despite officials previously pledging testing on the Bakersfield-to-Merced route by 2028.