New York Democrats say they want to believe President Donald Trump will pay for a signature infrastructure project – they just don't believe him.
At the center of the standoff over Penn Station's $8 billion redevelopment is a promise – which may or may not exist – that the federal government will cover the full cost of rebuilding the transit hub that moves half a million people a day through the heart of Manhattan, reported Politico.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she personally took her case to the White House and secured "a full federal commitment to finance and execute this project," saving New York taxpayers more than $1 billion. In turn, she redirected state money set aside for Penn Station elsewhere, signaling she wouldn't pick up the tab.
But Trump has never said any of this publicly.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment, and that disconnect between what Hochul claims and what Trump has actually confirmed is fueling deep unease among other Democrats who have to take her word for it, too.
"That's where the governor got that idea, that's what he said to her, and he said it more than once," said state Sen. Liz Krueger, relaying what she's been told secondhand. Assemblymember Tony Simone said much the same: "He literally said, 'I will get this done, and we will pay for it.'"
Simone isn't inclined to take that at face value, describing Trump as "a corrupt developer now as a corrupt president" and said his colleagues can't simply take him at his word. "All New Yorkers know this guy," he said, "so that's why I think we have this apprehension."
None of the developers, Amtrak, or the White House has said how much the project will ultimately cost, or how the bill will be split between federal money, low-interest loans and private financing. Comparable megaprojects have typically drawn around 80 percent federal funding, with the rest patched together elsewhere. Some New York Democrats are now insisting on 100 percent, arguing that since Trump seized control of the project from the state, Washington should own the entire price tag.
Trump's team says the criticism is unfair, pointing out the design isn't finalized and that cost estimates typically come later in a project like this. Andy Byford, the Amtrak official Trump tapped to lead the effort, has been more candid: "We don't have all the answers yet, but we're upfront about that."
The situation is complicated even further when Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Congress that Trump would like to name the landmark transit hub after himself, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to kill any effort to do that.