US President Donald Trump has announced that he wants to halt plans for a high-speed rail project between San Francisco and Los Angeles, as while the journey would cut travel time down from nine to three hours, he has claimed that it's 'way over budget'.
If there's one thing that you can day about President Trump's first few weeks in office it's that he's been busy, between controversial pardons and $500,000,000 AI partnerships, he's been making his impact clear in the second term.
One of the biggest trends within Trump's return to office has been funding cuts, which have primarily been led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, however one of the biggest funding slashes so far has come straight from the president himself.
Beginning in 2015, the California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) project has been one of the most anticipated government-funded projects, promising a 494 mile-long (795 km) track between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
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Additional phases have been announced, including plans to take the pathway to Sacramento, alongside a partnership with Brightline West towards Las Vegas that would have been incredibly popular for travelers.
Current travel time estimates indicate that the same route would take you around 9 hours on the Amtrak San Joaquins, whereas the CAHSR would cut that time down by at least two thirds to around 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Despite an existing investment of around $11,200,000,000 as of December 2023, President Trump has announced plans to halt production as the project is 'way over budget'.
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"The train that's being built between Los Angeles and San Francisco is the worst managed project I think I've ever seen, and I've seen some of the worst," Trump outlined in an official statement.
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"It is the worst thing and we're going to start an investigation into that because it's not possible. I built for a living, I built on time, on budget. It's impossible that something could cost that much."
Trump continued, adding: "Nobody has ever seen anything like it, the worst overruns that there have ever been in the history of our country, and it wasn't even necessary I would have said you don't bite, you take an airplane, it costs you two dollars, it costs you nothing [...] and if you have to you drive."
While Trump's statement might be abundantly clear, the CAHSA have reaffirmed that, as of February 4, nothing has changed and things are continuing as normal, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
"Ignore the noise. We're busy building," was the words of the CAHSA on X, outlining the major milestones that the project has reached so far, including the completion of 50 major structures and the creation of 14,600 jobs.
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Whether this will continue or whether Trump will get his way is still yet to be seen, but you have to wonder as well what happens to the existing work that has been completed over the past ten years, alongside the $11 billion already spent.