(Los Angeles) Donald Trump announced on Wednesday the cancellation of several billion dollars in federal funding planned for the construction in California of the high -speed line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, a project launched more than 15 years ago and which accumulates delays.
“Plus a single cent of the federal funds will not be devoted to this scam,” said the American president on his Truth Social network.
“It was a poorly designed and unnecessary project, and a total waste of taxpayers’ money, but it’s now over,” he added.
The dream of a train connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco in just 2:40 a.m. has taken a lot of time to materialize. Launched in 2008, the project began installing the first rails only in early 2025, after multiple delays and budgetary drifts.
During his first mandate, Donald Trump had already canceled federal funding in his favor. California had challenged this decision-making decision, but ex-president Joe Biden had restored the funds after his election.
In early June, the new Trump administration threatened to cancel four billion dollars in funding allocated to the project, after a report by the Federal Rail Transport Authority (FRA) concluding that there was no “viable path” to complete the initial section of the line before the deadline set at 2033.
“We are putting an end to the federal funding of this train today which does not lead anywhere,” confirmed on Wednesday the Minister of Transport Sean Duffy on X.
“The cost has increased from $ 33 billion to $ 135 billion, without completion date,” he said.
“California is considering all possible options to combat this illegal action,” California Gavin Newsom reacted in a statement.
The cancellation of funds is a blow for the project, because it will necessarily result in new deadlines and a new flight of costs due to inflation.
Unlike Europe or Asia, the train is the poor transport of transport in the United States. The infrastructure is mostly nonexistent, and the rare lines in service are often slow and infrequent.
The country’s first LGV, planned between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, must nevertheless see the light of day by 2028, in time for the Olympic Games.
