(The Center Square) — President Donald Trump is renewing threats to pull back funding from the $16 billion Gateway tunnel project, warning it will become a “boondoggle” for taxpayers without federal intervention.
In a fiery social media post, Trump reiterated his opposition to the proposed rail tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City under the Hudson River as New York and New Jersey leaders demand the release of tens of millions of dollars in federal funding frozen by his administration.
“I am opposed to the future boondoggle known as ‘Gateway,’ in New York/New Jersey, because it will cost many BILLIONS OF DOLLARS more than projected or anticipated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday. “The project will be financially catastrophic for the region, unless hard work and proper planning is done, NOW, to avoid insurmountable future cost overruns.”
Trump said the federal government is willing to meet with New York and New Jersey officials to discuss funding for the project.
But the president also denied reports that he offered to release the funding if New York Democrats agreed to put his name on New York City’s Penn Station, calling it “fake news” and saying the idea was brought up by “certain politicians and construction union heads” not himself.
Work at the project’s five job construction sites in New York and New Jersey ground to a halt two weeks ago after Gateway officials said they can’t resume construction until the federal funding is restored. Nearly 1,000 workers were temporarily laid off due to the freeze, the commission said.
Two federal lawsuits were filed challenging Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s move to freeze the funding, and a federal judge ordered the agency to release the funding.
Over the weekend, DOT released about $30 million in funding but New York and New Jersey officials are demanding that another $200 million be released immediately.
“The only person who can make Gateway a boondoggle is Donald Trump,” New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a statement. “Until his illegal actions forced the project to shut down, threw 1,000 hard-working men and women off the job, and threatened the commutes of 200,000 people a day, Gateway was on time and on budget.”
“Donald Trump’s ridiculous political rhetoric is just another effort to get out of paying what the federal government owes to the most urgent infrastructure project in the country,” she added.
The Gateway project, years in the making, calls for renovating the 1910 tunnel, which carries about 200,000 weekday passengers on Amtrak and NJ Transit beneath the Hudson between New Jersey and Manhattan. New York and New Jersey agreed last year to split the 30% local share of tunnel construction costs, a move required to apply for federal funding.
The upgrades are aimed at increasing capacity on the Northeast Corridor line between Newark and New York City and easing a bottleneck of rail traffic coming to and from the city.
