Trump Declares War on Trains: $4 Billion Slap at California's Future

President Donald J. Trump—still bitter, still petty, still obsessed with California—has decided that what America really needs right now is fewer trains. Specifically, he's on the brink of pulling $4 billion in Biden-era federal funding from the state’s high-speed rail project, because nothing says “Make America Great Again” like killing jobs, stalling clean energy progress, and writing a 300-page breakup letter to the future.

The Trump administration’s reasoning? Something about cost overruns, delays, and—brace yourself—concerns about fiscal responsibility. Yes, this from the man who ran the national deficit like it was a casino tab and billed taxpayers for golf cart rentals at his own resorts.

But instead of killing the project, Trump just gave it a shot of adrenaline. His high-speed hissy fit has Democrats, labor unions, and even Governor Gavin Newsom suddenly remembering why trains are good again. Because nothing unites California like Trump trying to take something away.

State Senate Budget Chair Scott Wiener basically said, “We saw this coming. Bring it, orange man.” Newsom, who had been tiptoeing around reauthorizing cap-and-trade like it was a rattlesnake in the budget closet, is now pledging at least $1 billion a year for the project. All thanks to Trump.

Republicans like Rep. Kevin Kiley immediately broke out the “biggest infrastructure failure in American history” line—somehow forgetting Trump’s own infrastructure week(s), which included exactly zero infrastructure. Unless you count a wall that never got built and some extremely creative Sharpie maps.

Meanwhile, labor unions are here for the drama—and the jobs. High-speed rail has created nearly 15,000 union jobs, more than any other infrastructure project in the U.S. since 2015. That’s 15,000 reasons Trump’s move is going over like a MAGA hat at a Greenpeace rally.

Even Katie Porter, who once side-eyed the project, had to course correct fast after getting called out by labor. It’s California politics, baby—you don’t mess with trains, teachers, or Teamsters.

And let’s be honest: Trump’s real problem with high-speed rail? It moves too fast, employs union workers, doesn’t run through Mar-a-Lago, and—worst of all—it’s something Biden backed that actually helps people.

In conclusion: Trump tried to derail California’s bullet train, and instead fueled it with a new round of political jet fuel. The Trump effect in action—he touches it, it backfires. Every. Single. Time.