NJ Politics Digest: State Makes Effort to Placate Trump on Gateway Project

It's no secret that Trump is no fan of the Gateway Tunnel Project.

An Amtrak train at Penn Station.
An Amtrak train at Penn Station. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

It’s no secret that President Donald Trump is no fan of the Gateway Tunnel Project. But now two local transportation agencies are taking steps that they hope will help ease the president’s enmity to the $14.5 billion plan.

As NJSpotlight reports, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will now take the lead in grant applications and environmental work for the rail tunnels under the Hudson River.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Transit has worked to cut costs on the $1.5 billion Portal North Bridge project and to increase New Jersey’s financial commitment to the work, according to the report.

While agency officials have expressed confidence that the changes should address Trump administration concerns about the project, the NJSpotlight article also points out that Trump is reportedly using his opposition to the Gateway project as a bargaining chip with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York and a proponent of the tunnel project.

Quote of the Day: “That’s one we’re going to observe and stay out of.” — Gov. Phil Murphy, on endorsing a candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in New York.

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NJ Politics Digest: State Makes Effort to Placate Trump on Gateway Project