Trump Is Making California Pay for the Lawsuit Against Building the Wall

California Governor Gavin Newsome learned this past Wednesday that it doesn’t pay to withhold support from President Trump.

The President made it plain that if California persists in its efforts to block the border wall, the state will be forced to repay the $2.5 billion grant the federal government gave it for building its now-aborted “high-speed rail” project intended to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco.

President Trump tweeted, “California now wants to scale back their already failed ‘fast train’ project by substantially shortening the distance so that it no longer goes from L.A. to San Francisco. A different deal and record cost overruns. Send the Federal Government back the Billions of Dollars WASTED!”

The President made his comment in response to Governor Newsome’s announcement California would join 15 other states that filed a lawsuit on Monday hoping to stop President Trump’s declaration of a “national emergency”.

California has already recalled its National Guard troops assigned to protect the border.

Newsome tried to make light of President Trump’s tweet calling it “no more than a threat.” He told the New York Times, “It’s no coincidence that the administration’s threat comes 24 hours after California led 16 states in challenging the president’s farcical national emergency. This is clear political retribution by Trump, and we won’t sit idly by. This is California’s money, and we are going to fight for it.”

California’s government should know that President Trump is not prone to making empty threats and it can ill afford to pay back billions of dollars for a project he has admitted “probably won’t be completed.”

The clash between Trump and the state of California started before the election. Since becoming president the Trump administration has faced a state that has clashed with him over criminal justice and environmental issues as well as immigration. California’s Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, a vocal critic of President Trump has filed 46 lawsuits against his administration so far.

Before the current flap President Trump tweeted, “The failed Fast Train project in California, where the cost overruns are becoming world record setting, is hundreds of times more expensive than the desperately needed Wall!”

The “bullet train” project and California’s active effort to thwart border security is prime evidence of how far off base its governmental leaders have gone. The failed project has already cost the state a mind-boggling $77 billion – over 12 times the funds Trump has requested from Congress to fund the border wall.

While Newsome blusters how his state will not pay back the money, The New York Times reports that the process is already underway. The Trump administration has announced it is terminating a $929 million federal grant to the California High-Speed Rail Authority. In a letter sent Tuesday, the US Transportation said it was nearly zeroing out the federal government’s contribution the high-speed rail projects for the 2019 fiscal year.

In that letter, the Department claimed California has “materially failed to comply with the terms of the agreement and has failed to make reasonable progress on the project significantly endangering substantial performance,” making further federal contributions no longer warranted.

US NEWs & World Report reported this week that the Transportation Department has also demanded immediate re-payment of a $141.8 million loan.

In a separate statement made last Tuesday, the Transportation Department said it will actively explore “every legal option” to recoup the grant money.

Governor Newsome says the state will not give the money back but the California high-speed rail board seems to think differently. A spokesman told The New York Times the rail board sees the moves by the federal government as actions to offer negotiation.

Dan Richard, who stepped down this week as chairman of the board of the high-speed rail project, noted the letter from the Trump administration said, “It’s a serious matter — the federal government has a lot of power in this situation. I’m hoping that the phrase ‘intends to terminate’ gives an opportunity for parties to resolve this issue.”

Former Governor Brown championed the rail project, seeing it become the most expensive public transit project under construction in the country. State officials have said they see the cost of the project likely to reach past $100 billion.

During his campaign, Newsome did not appear to have the same enthusiasm for the project. But now, with Trump calling his hand, the new governor has made keeping the train and the federal money that goes with it his top priority.


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