Republican threatens to kill DC transit funding unless it names trains for Trump

A Florida Republican is demanding that Washington, D.C., name subway trains in its transit system after President Donald Trump and, If it doesn't, he says Congress will cut funding to the public system shared by the district as well as the states of Maryland and Virginia.

Fox5DC reported Thursday that Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) will stop funding the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) unless it changes the whole agency's name to the Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access (WMAGA) — and renames the metro system the "Trump Train."

"WMATA has received billions in federal assistance over the years and continues to face operational, safety, and fiscal challenges," Steube said in a statement on his congressional website. "In the spirit of DOGE, this bill demands accountability by conditioning federal funding on reforms that signal a cultural shift away from bureaucratic stagnation toward public-facing excellence and patriotism."

Washington, D.C. is not an official state and, as such, the way the government is funded is radically different than its local counterparts. One example is that the budget of D.C. must be approved not by the mayor or the city council, as in other large cities, but rather by Congress.

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Steube believes that rebranding the DC metro would "promote efficiency, service quality, and public trust," according to the report.

However, D.C. is known for its quality and efficiency in public transportation, according to one firm. The financial analytics firm SmartAsset used Census Bureau data to find the nation’s best public transit systems, putting Washington, D.C. at number one, the Washington Post reported.

It's also known as a city with a strong anti-Trump sentiment. Washington, D.C., voted against Trump in the 2024 election to such a degree that he earned only 6.47%. Vice President Kamala Harris earned more than 90% of the vote.

Steube cites events like the NFL Draft in D.C. and the 2026 FIFA World Cup games as the reason for the rebranding. The World Cup will take place in 16 cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. While D.C. isn't hosting any of those games, it is a venue for the FIFA Club World Cup in June 2025.

However, none of the other host cities have been threatened with funding cuts if they don't change the names of their public transit systems.

Read the bill here.