The federal government won’t cover any cost overruns on a $16 billion Hudson River rail tunnel project for which the White House previously froze funding, President Donald Trump warned on Monday.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, urged authorities to “avoid insurmountable future cost overruns” and offered meetings to ensure the project does not go above budget.
“Please let this statement represent the fact that, under no circumstances, will the Federal Government be responsible for ANY COST OVERRUNS – NOT ONE DOLLAR!” Trump wrote.
His administration halted funding for the project in October, citing a new Department of Transportation rule that bans race or gender-based contracting requirements. Gateway said it had complied with the department’s regulations.
The freeze occurred as a clash over health-insurance subsidies between Trump and Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, had led to a government shutdown.
The Gateway Development Commission, which oversees the project, declined to comment on Trump’s post. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
New Jersey and New York previously won a temporary court order blocking the freeze. A judge said federal funding should resume by Tuesday.
Gateway would add train capacity between New Jersey and Manhattan by building a new two-tube tunnel and upgrading the existing North River tunnel, which is more than 100 years old.
Earlier: NY-NJ Tunnel Funds Frozen by Trump Administration to Resume
“The only person who can make Gateway a boondoggle is Donald Trump,” New Jersey Governor 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.”
In his social post, Trump again rejected reports that the White House had told Schumer that the holdup could end if he supported renaming New York’s Penn Station and Washington Dulles International Airport after the president.
“The naming of PENN Station to TRUMP STATION, was brought up by certain politicians and construction union heads, not me – IT IS JUST MORE FAKE NEWS!” Trump said in the post.
With assistance from Skylar Woodhouse.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
