During a Tuesday meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump turned his attention south to slam California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s high-speed rail project.
“I’ve watched a lot of stupid people build a lot of stupid things, but that’s the worst cost overrun I’ve ever seen – what’s happening between San Francisco and Los Angeles,” said the president.
This week, political insider Phil Matier joined Audacy’s KCBS Radio to discuss the project and why Newsom is on Trump’s mind.
“Well, I think those two guys were made for each other, don’t you? I mean, and they were both made for the camera. I think they just can’t get enough of each other,” he said.
Matier noted the hints that Newsom might be planning to run for president. That’s why he thinks Trump was compelled to talk about the longtime California politician.
“He does have a point on the fact that the high-speed rail is one of those things that Gavin Newsom or any governor of California is wearing around their neck right now,” Matier. “It is a target. It’s an open target. This is legendary.”
Last month, Audacy reported on the rail project and a vote in the California Senate Transportation Committee moved that moved forward plans for a commission to study commercial and economic development opportunities along the rail corridor. Eventually, supporters of the plan hope that the rail will extend from San Francisco to Los Angeles and run at 220 miles per hour. Work on an initial segment from Merced to Bakersfield is underway.
KCBS Radio reported that the project has already employed nearly 15,000 construction jobs. Supporters of the project include Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, a Republican and they say it will revolutionize how Californians travel, strengthen the economy, improve cities, and support sustainability.
“We’re talking about the idea of a voter-approved bond measure for $33 billion that the idea was to be able to get from San Francisco to Los Angeles within four hours and 20 minutes,” said Matier. However, he noted the project is now estimated to cost $128 billion at the high end and the test like from Merced to Bakersfield isn’t finished yet.
As Trump’s comments – including a vow not to give federal funds for the high-speed rail project, according to The New York Times – foreshadow, Matier thinks any politician from California will have to reckon with the state of the project during upcoming elections. Furthermore, he doesn’t think the project will be completed any time soon.
“Politics aside, this is one of those things that somebody sold as a great idea, but nobody took a hard look at it when it passed and said, ‘How realistic is this?’ Instead, we just started going for it and we wanted to get federal money for it and state money for, so they said just start building it and work it together as we go along and it’s turned into a disaster,” Matier said.
Audacy station WCCO reported that Newsom and the rail project weren’t the only targets Trump took aim at during his meeting with Carney, who rebuffed the president’s proposal to make Canada the 51st state. Trump shot back “time will tell.”
“The meeting between the two leaders showcased the full spectrum of Trump's unique mix of aggression, hospitality and stubbornness,” WCCO reported. Still, it said that the meeting did not end up in a public showdown like Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was berated by the U.S. president and his team for not being sufficiently deferential. Nor did it have the ease of Trump's sit down with the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who invited Trump for a visit provided by King Charles III.