President Trump said Tuesday he would investigate California’s high-speed rail plan, calling it “the worst-managed project” he has seen.
“They have hundreds of billions of dollars of cost overruns,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s impossible that something could cost that much.”
In response, the High-Speed Rail Authority posted a progress report on X.
“Ignore the noise. We’re busy building,” the post said, highlighting the project’s environmental clearance for construction between Los Angeles and San Francisco, construction in the Central Valley and more than 14,000 jobs the project has provided.
An authority spokesperson said that of the roughly $13 billion that has been spent on the project, $10.5 billion has been funded through the state of California — “not hundreds of billions.”
“Every dollar of the project is accounted for and has been thoroughly reviewed by the independent Office of the Inspector General,” the spokesperson said. “Expenditures have created over $22 billion in economic impact.”
But the project has faced ongoing challenges over timeline and funding. The budget is roughly $100 billion more than the authority’s original $33-billion estimate, and the authority has yet to identify tens of billions of dollars needed to finish it.
The project was initially expected to be completed by 2020. But that timeline has moved back considerably. Construction has so far been limited to the Central Valley. The authority expects a 171-mile stretch between Merced and Bakersfield to be completed between 2030 and 2033. It is unclear when construction would begin on other parts of the line.
Authority leaders have acknowledged funding and timing issues in board meetings, and lawmakers and transit experts have pointed to a need for private-sector investment in the absence of federal funding commitments. A state-appointed peer review group has repeatedly advised the authority to consider alternative plans for the project.
California’s high-speed rail endeavor has been targeted by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. In post on X in December, it highlighted the $6.8 billion the project has received in federal funding, and the authority’s request for an additional $8 billion. Musk had said earlier last year that billions of dollars have been spent on high-speed rail “for practically nothing.” U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) has introduced legislation to defund it.
In January, state leaders went on the offense and touted the train’s progress to eventually connect the state and link to a high-speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas.
Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed back against criticism the project has faced with regard to past decisions. The train has been faulted for not utilizing a direct route along Interstate 5.
“We can’t go back. We just have to accept the responsibility of where we are, and that’s exactly what we are doing,” Newsom said last month.
