Trump Says High-Speed Rail Isn’t Needed Because ‘You Take an Airplane – It Costs You $2’
The president alleged that high-speed rail would be a less efficient and more expensive alternative than air travel, which in his estimation, costs $2.
www.mediaite.com
Trump Says High-Speed Rail Isn’t Needed Because ‘You Take an Airplane – It Costs You $2’
Michael Luciano Feb 4th, 2025, 6:18 pm
President Donald Trump said his administration will investigate a high-speed rail project in California that, if completed, would connect San Francisco and Los Angeles with several stops along the way. Trump said a railway project isn’t necessary because, according to him, a plane ticket can be purchased for $2.
The president took questions in the Oval Office while signing a new string of executive orders. One reporter asked about the havoc being caused by Elon Musk at various government agencies after Trump appointed him to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency.”
“On Elon Musk, how often are you talking to him?” the reporter asked. “And have there been ideas that he has brought to you that you’ve said, ‘Oh no, wait a minute, this is going a little too far’?”
Trump replied that his billionaire donor has “done a great job” and slammed the United States Agency for International Development, which distributes tens of billions in foreign aid each year. In his answer, Trump pivoted to California’s rail project.
“And one of the things I want to investigate rapidly – because I’ve never seen anything to this extent – the train that’s being built between Los Angeles and San Francisco, is the worst managed project I think I’ve ever seen,” Trump said. “And I’ve seen some of the worst.”
The president went on to allege that high-speed rail would be a less efficient and more expensive alternative than air travel, which in his estimation, costs $2.
“We’re gonna start a big investigation on that because it’s– I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. 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 buy it. You take an airplane – it costs you $2. It costs you nothing. You take an airplane. But this got started. And if you have to, you drive, you can drive.”
Trump and Musk are aligned in opposing the Golden State’s rail project. Last decade Musk claimed he would build a “Hyperloop” to quickly ferry people across the state. However, Musk was never serious about the idea, which he floated to try to kill the proposed railway.
Watch above via CNN.
The taxes for a plane ticket anywhere is more than 2 dollars
looking at Delta, flying from Michigan to say LA or NY is at least $450 for me. Not everyone has millions to throw around like you
