The Trump administration revoked federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project on Wednesday, reinforcing uncertainty about how the state will be better with the long delay promise of building bullet trains to shuttle riders between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The US Transportation Administration has announced that it will withdraw $4 billion in funding for the project. Overall, less than a quarter of the project’s funding comes from the federal government. The rest comes from the state primarily through voter-approved bonds and money from its cap-and-trade programs.
President Donald Trump and Transport Secretary Sean Duffy both denounced the project as “a train that goes nowhere.”
“The railroad we promised doesn’t exist yet, and we will never do that,” Trump wrote of the true society. “The project was heavily expensive, over-regulated and never delivered.”
The loss marks the latest blow to California by the Trump administration. The Trump administration blocked the country’s No. 1 rule to phase out the sale of new gas-powered vehicles, launched a survey of university admissions policies, threatening transgender girls being allowed to compete in women’s sports.
It’s also because railroad project leaders are looking for private investments to help pay estimated price tags of more than $100 billion.
Voters first approved the project in 2008 and were supposed to run it for the last decade. However, cost estimates have been consistently increasing, pushing back that timeline.
State officials are currently focusing on building a 119-mile stretch that connects Bakersfield and Merced Central Valley cities, which will be operated by 2033.
Officials wrote earlier this month that the Trump administration had decided to cancel funds before thoroughly reviewing the project. They noted that over 50 structures have already been constructed, including underpasses, viaducts and bridges.
“Canceling these grants on the grounds is not just wrong, they are illegal,” authorities CEO Ian Chowdri said in a statement Wednesday. “These are legally binding contracts and the authorities meet all their obligations, as they have repeatedly confirmed federal reviews, as they have recently in 2025.”
Authorities are asking potential private investors to express their interest by the end of the month.
Democrats’ government Gavin Newsom said the state will maintain “all options” to combat the cancellation of federal funds.
“Trump wants to pass China on its future and abandon the central valley. We won’t allow him,” he said in a statement.
In a report released last month, the state said Drew Feely, the federal railway agency administrator for the Transportation Department, has “no viable plans” to complete the Central Valley segment. He called the project a “darkness of a broken promise” and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Democrats in California have also criticised project spending. Democrat Rebecca Bauer Kahan said at a budget hearing earlier this year that her members “doublely believe it.”
Newsom plans to expand the state’s cap-and-trade program, a major source of funding for projects that will expire by 2045 by the end of 2030.
The program sets a reduction limit on the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that large emitters can release. These polluters can purchase benefits from states needed to pollution, and about 45% of that money goes into what is called the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, according to the Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee, a group of experts reviewing the program.
The fund will help pay for climate and transportation projects, including high-speed rail.
The Bullet Train Project receives 25% of money from the fund. This would mean a little less or a little less than $1 billion a year depending on the year. Newsom in May proposed to guarantee $1 billion a year for projects from the fund, but lawmakers disagree.
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Austin is a legional member of the Associated Press/Report’s American State University News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit, national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on infiltrated issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophiedanna
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