President Donald Trump on Wednesday hit the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati to push the infrastructure funding proposal he issued last month. He called on Congress to adopt his proposal for clipping federal funding for U.S. highways in exchange for incentivizing private companies to pour $800 billion into roads, bridges, waterways and other transportation infrastructure.
The speech comes as part of the Trump Administration’s push to recognize Infrastructure Week, an informal week in which lawmakers, the public and roads groups call for investment in failing U.S. infrastructure. In addition to the Wednesday speech, Trump is scheduled to speak Friday to the Department of Transportation and other transportation stakeholders. The president on Monday called for privatizing the country’s air traffic controllers.
Trump’s proposal, for which few details have been released, offers $200 billion in federal tax incentives and seed funding in hopes of drawing private companies, states and localities to spend $800 billion over 10 years. The total spending goals add to $1 trillion — the number Trump has touted since his presidential campaign. The White House has not said how it plans to fund the $200 billion investment, which has been a key sticking point for infrastructure funding proposals in recent years.
Trump on Wednesday cited the Panama Canal and the Interstate system as notable U.S. transportation achievements, then deriding the current state of U.S. highways. “We don’t do that anymore,” he noted. “We don’t even fix the old highways anymore. We’re going to get them going again like they never have before. There are companies here prepared to work with us to make sure the right infrastructure gets built and gets built quickly.”
Notably for trucking, Trump’s plan also calls for a repeal of the tolling ban on existing Interstate lanes and privatizing rest areas.
Greg Cohen, head of the D.C.-based Highway Users Alliance, says Trump’s proposal could be a starting point for lawmakers on an infrastructure bill. But the proposal has little chance of passing Congress, he says.
