Trump Pulls the Plug on California’s Train to Nowhere — Newsom Fumes as Federal Funds Cut Off

President Donald J. Trump has pulled the brakes — permanently — on California’s bloated high-speed rail project, ending years of unchecked federal spending on what he calls a “boondoggle” that has delivered nothing but broken promises and billions in wasted taxpayer dollars.

“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,’” President Trump announced in a statement on Truth Social.

Lashing out at California Governor Gavin Newsom — whom Trump mockingly referred to as “Gavin Newscum” — the President highlighted how the failed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco has devoured taxpayer funds since voters approved it in 2008, only to deliver a whole lot of nothing.

“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,” Trump wrote.

First approved via referendum in 2008 and ceremonially launched in 2012, the California High-Speed Rail has become a national punchline. Even The New York Times chronicled its litany of failures as recently as 2022. Despite years of planning and spending, no operational segment exists.

“The Railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will,” Trump emphasized in a follow-up post. “This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED.”

He credited Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy with leading the charge to finally shut off the federal cash flow:

“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!” Trump said.

Governor Newsom, predictably furious, attempted to frame the decision as illegal and politically motivated. In a press release, he insisted the project was “enter[ing] the track laying phase” and accused Trump of “hand[ing] China the future” — though he provided no explanation for how China benefits from California's domestic boondoggle.

“Trump wants to hand China the future and abandon the Central Valley. We won’t let him,” Newsom proclaimed.

Newsom also claimed California was “miles ahead of others” in rail infrastructure and estimated that the earliest train passengers might board is somewhere between 2030 and 2033 — nearly a quarter century after the project began.

But Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s official statement dismantled those claims with hard numbers and facts.

“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 Department of Transportation noted, confirming that the $4 billion federal grant had been terminated after $15 billion had already vanished down the bureaucratic rabbit hole.

Duffy placed the blame squarely on California’s leadership.

“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,” he 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,” Duffy continued. “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.”

A federal audit determined that the California High-Speed Rail Authority had failed to meet its obligations under the grant agreement, and that the 2033 operational timeline was a pipe dream — confirming what fiscal conservatives have argued for years.