Trump says taxpayers won’t pay cost overruns for tunnel project between N.Y. and N.J.

President Trump said Monday the federal government won’t be on the hook for any cost overruns for the proposed $16 billion Gateway rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, which has been tied up in legal fighting.

Mr. Trump called the project “a disaster,” saying that hard work and proper planning must be done to prevent the proposal from exceeding its price tag. He also warned that if the project blows past its estimated costs, the federal government won’t step in to bail out the states.

“Please let this statement represent the fact that under no circumstances will the federal government be responsible for any cost overruns — not one dollar!” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The Federal government is willing to meet to ensure that this does not happen!”

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, said the project was under budget until Mr. Trump halted funding, adding unnecessary expenses to the multibillion-dollar project.

“Until [Mr. Trump’s] illegal actions forced the project to shut down, the 1,000 hard-working men and women off the job and threatened the commutes of 200,000 people a day, Gateway was on time and under budget,” she said in a statement. “Donald Trump’s ridiculous political rhetoric is just another effort to get out of paying what the federal government owes to the most urgent infrastructure project in the country. We won’t let him.”

The Trump administration suspended funding for the project in September, but told a federal judge on Friday that it would comply with a court order to pay the money. The suspension left the feds owing about $205 million to the tunnel’s planners, the Gateway Development Commission and caused the layoff of about 1,000 union workers.

The federal government pledged more than $11 billion toward the tunnel project, which New York and New Jersey have pitched as the most urgent infrastructure project in the U.S. However, the administration put the money on hold to review the project’s contracts for compliance with federal regulations.

After the work halted last week, New York and New Jersey sued the Department of Transportation, saying that they had been harmed by the layoffs and the disruption. A federal judge had ordered an end to the suspension by 5 p.m. on Feb. 12.

The Transportation Department on Friday released about $30 million to cover overdue payments and said the rest would be paid by the end of this week. It said the delay was because the funds needed to be processed through the Treasury Department and Monday was Presidents Day, a federal holiday.

Despite paying the $30 million, the Trump administration has asked a federal appeals court to overturn the New York judge’s decision. A hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 23.