President Donald Trump recently took aim at California’s high-speed rail project, turning the spotlight on what he dubbed the “worst-managed project” he has ever encountered. During unscripted comments to reporters in the Oval Office, he expressed his determination to initiate an investigation into the train to nowhere that’s made headlines for all the wrong reasons. It seems California’s rail dreams are more of a nightmare for taxpayers than a futuristic transit option.
In response to a query about Elon Musk’s attempts to cut government waste, Trump couldn’t help but spotlight the staggering financial mismanagement surrounding the California project, which has apparently ballooned into a bottomless pit of taxpayer dollars. He painted an absurd picture where, instead of building a train, California could have offered the entire population a luxurious limousine service for the same price, and still emerged with a hefty surplus. He didn’t shy away from calling it a corrupt mess, questioning where all the money is going and if any of it is filtering back to the political elites who greenlit the project.
Trump Rips California High-Speed Rail. https://t.co/8bSb4TVPwz
— Dr. Thom, Ph.D., CPA 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 (@TAG2335) February 4, 2025
The former president’s frustrations highlighted not just the financial foul-up but also the miscommunication surrounding the project’s scope. Originally envisioned to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, it has since been scaled back drastically, ending up in some “out-of-the-way” locations. One wonders if the train was supposed to travel at high speed or if it’s already been rerouted to an alternate dimension.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who previously declared the ambitious rail plan as overly costly and time-consuming, appears to be in a tug-of-war with Trump over the project’s funding and future. After Newsom axed the more extensive portions of the plan, Trump swooped in to block $1 billion intended for the project, only for the current administration to open the floodgates once more. Yet, progress on the project itself has remained stagnant, proving that throwing money at a poorly conceived program doesn’t magically transform it into a success.
Now, with the specter of a new investigation looming, one has to wonder: will there be any accountability? Trump, who prides himself on constructing projects “on time and on budget,” is adamant that such egregious cost overruns simply aren’t tenable. With both Newsom and President Biden backing a separate high-speed rail venture to connect Los Angeles and Las Vegas—financed by private funds—it seems California is determined to keep throwing good money after bad projects, while conveniently leaving Trump out of the conversation. As the investigation is set to unfold, only one thing is certain: taxpayers have a right to demand answers about where their hard-earned dollars are disappearing to in this roller-coaster of a rail ride to *somewhere*.