Trump hints $16B Gateway project was 'terminated'
Sherrill, Ciattarelli say they would fight for tunnel funding
By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... President Donald Trump said he :terminated" an unnamed project in New York on October 15 [2025] during a news conference.
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"The project in Manhattan, the project in New York - it's billions and billions of dollars that Schumer has worked 20 years to get. It's terminated," Trump said, referring to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate minority leader.
..... Previously this month, [10/2025] Trump's administration paused reimbursements on two large infrastructure projects that touch Manhattan, the Second Avenue Subway and the Gateway tunnel program, which would build a new two-track rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York and then repair the existing, century-old one.
..... There had been no communication form the White House to the Gateway Development Commission - the bi-state agency that oversees the $16 billion rail tunnel project - about the program being terminated as of 9:30 AM. October 16, [2025] according to a source close to the project.
..... Schumer wrote off Trump's "trying to kill" the project as "pure spite and stupidity."
..... "It's petty revenge politics that would screw hundreds of thousands of New York and New Jersey commuters, choke off our economy, and kill good-paying jobs," Schumer said in a social amide post.
..... Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey said the project should rise above politics.
..... "This isn't a Democratic project. It's a project that has had broad bipartisan support, including from his own secretary of Transportation, who called it 'important' just days ago," the senators said in a joint statement.
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"We will fight to keep this funding we will fight to keep the thousands of union jobs it supports and we will fight to ensure that the better future that Gateway promises for our entire region is fully realized," their statement said.
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Labor unions who stand to benefit from thousands of jobs that will be created to build these tunnels have also started speaking out against the project becoming a political football.
..... "The Gateway Tunnel is not a game: it is the most important infrastructure project of this generation. Countless jobs are at stake not to mention the overall economic impact to the region if the current tunnels have to be shuttered," the Utility & Transportation Construction Association said in a statement.
..... "Enough is enough. Get back to D.C. and figure it out."
..... Five of the 10 projects within the first phase of the tunnel constructions and rehab programs have been awarded and are in various stages of construction.
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That work has continued -f or now - despite the Trump administration's decision to freeze reimbursements for the program.
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The issue of Gateway's future has also become a talking point among the candidates for governor in New Jersey.
..... In a rare departure from the president, Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli said he would push back against Trump over the Gateway funding issues.
..... "New Jersey needs a governor who has the standing to work with, and when necessary disagree with, the president and advocate for New Jersey's fair share of federal tax dollars - including the Gateway tunnel," his campaign wrote in a social media post. "This is a critical infrastructure project and I will fight to get it done."
..... Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee, held a press conference with local officials and union leaders October 16 [2025] in Secaucus to plege her willingness ot "fight toe to toe" and go to ocurt over matters like Gateway's funding, which has been authorized by Congress, She highlighted that her opponent gave Trump an "A" rating during the October 8 [2025] debate - after funding for Gateway was frozen - and that Ciatarelli said Trump has "been right about everything that he's doing."
..... Asked how she would respond to Cialltariell's comment that he would fight for the project, Sherrill said, "In what way is he going to fight for it? He's not here today, [10/16/2025] he's not pledging it in front of the trade unions, so I find it really interesting that the only time he fights for the people of New Jersey is when his back is to the wall and I'm holding him accountable."