President Donald Trump’s abrupt announcement on the 15th that he would halt construction of a new Hudson River train tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey has sparked fierce controversy.
At a White House press conference that day, Trump stated, “Russell Bott, the White House Budget Director, is effectively killing many of the Democrats’ projects,” adding, “The Manhattan Project and the New York Project are both finished.”
Trump mentioned Senator Charles Schumer, a vocal supporter of the Gateway Project, saying, “That’s a multi-billion-dollar project Schumer has been trying to secure for 20 years. Tell him it’s stopped.”
It remains unclear why President Trump made this decision, and whether the Manhattan Project he referred to specifically included the Gateway train tunnel and the Second Avenue subway extension, another major infrastructure project in New York.
Senator Schumer, however, vehemently condemned President Trump’s abrupt termination, calling it “a reckless and foolish decision.”
He added, “The Gateway is the most important infrastructure project in America. President Trump’s sabotage of it is a petty political retaliation that will devastate hundreds of thousands of New York and New Jersey commuters and choke our economy.”
Democratic politicians, including New York Governor Kathy Hokul and New Jersey Senator Andy Kim, also expressed criticism and concern. The current Hudson River Tunnel, the sole rail route between New York and New Jersey, is 116 years old and suffering from serious aging issues.
The need for a new train tunnel to improve service for hundreds of thousands of daily passengers has long been emphasized, and construction finally began in 2023 and is currently underway. However, if the $11 billion in federal funding, which accounts for about 70% of the total $16 billion construction cost, is cut off, the project is virtually impossible to complete.
Construction continued the 16th, a day after President Trump’s abrupt announcement of the suspension. The Gateway Development Committee stated that it had not heard anything from the federal government. Furthermore, according to a Politico report, a Department of Transportation official, requesting anonymity, said there were no plans to halt the Gateway project. The White House and the Department of Transportation did not respond to requests for comments.
The fate of the Gateway project has emerged as a key issue in the New Jersey gubernatorial election, which is 18 days away. Democratic candidate Mikey Sherrill said he would “fight tooth and nail to get the funding back,” while his Republican rival, Jack Ciartarelli, said he would “urge the restoration of federal funding” and that “New Jersey needs a governor who can work with the president while also having the stature to disagree when necessary.”