Trump Says His Administration 'Is Not Going to Pay' for California High-Speed Rail

Trump Says His Administration ‘Is Not Going to Pay’ for California High-Speed Rail

The government was already investigating how the state was spending a federal grant on the train project to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco.


A high-speed rail overpass that has been under construction in Hanford, Calif. Ian C. Bates for The New York Times

By Laurel Rosenhall
Reporting from Sacramento
May 6, 2025
Updated 6:44 p.m. ET

President Trump said Tuesday that the federal government will not pay for California’s high-speed train, another potential wrinkle in a troubled project that has repeatedly blown past its budget and completion timeline since voters approved funding in 2008.

“That train is the worst cost overrun I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a joint appearance with Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada. “It’s, like, totally out of control.” He added: “This government is not going to pay.”

The president’s comments came three months after his administration launched a review of how California is spending a $3.1 billion federal grant issued under the Biden administration. That audit has not yet been completed.

The project was originally envisioned as a $33 billion bullet train that would, by 2020, whisk people between San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than three hours. But plans have been stymied by inflation, lawsuits over land acquisitions and lengthy environmental reviews, along with repeated tussles over funding. The cost has more than tripled, the scope of the line has been scaled back and completion is now slated for 2033 for an initial segment that connects two smaller cities in the Central Valley.

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Laurel Rosenhall is a Sacramento-based reporter covering California politics and government for The Times.