After the second term for Donald Trump began, the head of the Transportation Department, Sean Duffy, started exposing the super expensive boondoggle that is Gavin Newsom and California Dems' high speed rail project that never seems to get started:
California’s high-speed rail has all the marks of a boondoggle:
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) June 4, 2025
- $16 billion spent
- 17 years gone
- No high-speed track laid
We have put California on notice: If you can’t deliver, American taxpayers will not fund your train to nowhere. pic.twitter.com/EHradMYSRv
It's going so great that earlier this year Gov. Newsom bragged about the progress of the high speed rail project with a regular freight train in the background:
We've taken another critical step in the track-laying stage for California's @CaHSRA high-speed rail! pic.twitter.com/qVYw7eJQbn
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) February 4, 2026
Not pictures: Any high speed rail.
Last night 60 Minutes aired a segment about what a sham this is, and we'll start here:
America’s hopes for its first high-speed rail line were kindled in 2008, when California voters approved a ballot measure for a bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Nearly two decades later, that dream is yet to arrive. https://t.co/rDUsWKcxbN pic.twitter.com/0uRSAmXW63
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 5, 2026
The "dream" has become a taxpayer nightmare (except of course whoever is pocketing the money from this boondoggle).
As you might have guessed, those who are still behind this sham have spotted the problem: They haven't been given enough taxpayer money:
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BREAKING: California doesn't have enough money to finish building a high speed rail system to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles and now they want $125 BILLION MORE!
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) April 5, 2026
"The entire amount of money we need is not there..."
And now they want more money than Amtrak has EVER… pic.twitter.com/CBe2heU0MK
More money? How about NO?
In California’s Central Valley, some jokingly call these unfinished concrete structures their own “Stonehenge.” They were built for the state’s high-speed rail project, which has seen costs balloon and is years behind schedule. https://t.co/nN97QIgeuQ pic.twitter.com/LgPxx2XPtP
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 5, 2026
With construction costs soaring and the timeline years behind schedule, California has focused on completing a more limited route than originally intended – a route that few were clamoring for, and fewer are likely to ride. https://t.co/XFAUjDeoyW pic.twitter.com/VPue8v98cs
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 5, 2026
Maybe next 60 Minutes (and the Transportation Dept.) should look into where exactly all the money actually went, because it's obvious where it didn't go!
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy says the Trump administration is in favor of high-speed rail, but the California project has “wasted billions in taxpayer dollars yet delivered nothing…” https://t.co/7cgN232CkZ pic.twitter.com/3m7FbZWbXP
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 5, 2026
And as you might have guessed, proponents of the project say it's voters fault for not understanding what it would take for a project of this magnitude:
California California's Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin first blames VOTERS for the state's failure to not build any high speed rail.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) April 6, 2026
"There were mistakes made. Some of the criticism on this project, I think, are very fair... I don't think the voters fully understood,… pic.twitter.com/zrBIfW1Yby
As usual, it's YOUR fault for noticing that this is a boondoggle.
Euthanize this insane failure FFS https://t.co/EkdD2Vd3Yl
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) April 6, 2026
Instead they're insisting that "more money" is the answer.
— Van Dyke of the Deplorables (@Picodegallows) April 6, 2026
That pretty much sums it up!
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