The $1 trillion-plus price tag of President Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan has grown a lot since the early days of his campaign. But Washington would bear only a small share of the costs, hopes for action in Trump’s first 100 days fizzled and some potential supporters have grown dubious. Here are the ways Trump’s proposal have raised hopes — and the roadblocks that have emerged.
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Hype building
Road blocks
May 12, 2015
Trump: 'I know how to build'
“The only one to fix the infrastructure of our country is me — roads, airports, bridges,” Donald Trump tweets a month before launching his campaign. “I know how to build, pols only know how to talk!”
July 21, 2016
He promises the infrastructure 'of tomorrow'
“Our roads and bridges are falling apart,” Trump says as he accepts the GOP nomination. “We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports and the railways of tomorrow. This, in turn, will create millions of more jobs.”
Aug. 2, 2016
$550 billion plan would double Hillary's
Trump tells Fox Business his infrastructure plan will cost “at least double” Hillary Clinton’s $275 billion, five-year proposal. “People,” “investors” and “citizens” would pay for it, taking advantage of “low interest rates.”
Oct. 23, 2016
$1 trillion plan to come in Trump's first 100 days
Trump’s “100-day action plan” includes legislation that would “spur” $1 trillion in infrastructure spending over 10 years. It includes tax incentives and partnerships between government and private business.
Nov. 9, 2016
Trump highlights infrastructure in victory speech
“We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals,” the president-elect says in his victory speech. “And we will put millions of our people to work.”
Nov. 10, 2016
Conservative groups: Not so fast
Some conservative groups express doubts that infrastructure should be a top priority or would create lots of jobs. “It would be a mistake to prioritize Big Government endeavors over important issues like repealing Obamacare,” says a Heritage Action for America spokesman.
Nov. 15, 2016
Adviser: Tax reform could pay for it
Tying infrastructure to tax reform could win Democrats’ support, Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore says, estimating the Treasury could reap $150 million from a low, one-time tax on corporations’ overseas earnings.
Nov. 18, 2016
Bannon: 'I'm the guy pushing a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan'
Steve Bannon tells Michael Wolff (yes, that Michael Wolff) that infrastructure will be the key to building “an entirely new political movement,” like Andrew Jackson’s. “With negative interest rates throughout the world, it’s the greatest opportunity to rebuild everything. … It will be as exciting as the 1930s, greater than the Reagan revolution.”
Nov. 20, 2016
Schumer can work with Trump
Democrats can work with Trump on a big infrastructure package, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says. He says he hopes the president-elect will “work with us, even if it means breaking with the Republicans who have always opposed these things.”
Nov. 22, 2016
Trump starts tempering expectations
Infrastructure will be part of Trump’s early agenda but not “the core” of it, the president-elect tells The New York Times. Still, “we’re talking about a very large-scale infrastructure bill. And that’s not a very Republican thing.”
Jan. 11, 2017
Senators press Chao on rural needs
Republican senators use Elaine Chao’s confirmation hearing to press the incoming transportation secretary on ensuring that rural communities get their share of infrastructure money.
Jan. 20, 2017
Inaugural speech: 'We will build new roads and highways'
Trump promises in his inauguration speech that “we will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation” — adding that in the past, the U.S. “spent trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.”
Jan. 20, 2017
White House website says energy money will go to infrastructure
“We will use the revenues from energy production to rebuild our roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure,” the new White House website says. It offers no details.
Jan. 24, 2017
Senate Democrats offer own $1 trillion plan
Schumer and other Senate Democrats lay out a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that would rely on federal funding. “As for how we pay for it, we will discuss that with Trump,” Schumer says.
Jan. 31, 2017
Shuster: Ryan expects 'something' on infrastructure by summer
House Speaker Paul Ryan “looks for us to do something late spring, early summer“ on Trump’s plan, Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster says. He adds: “It’s all going to be driven by tax reform because we got to figure out how to pay for this stuff.”
Feb. 23, 2017
Spicer: Public-private partnerships are the 'cornerstone' of the plan
Partnerships between government and private companies — a controversial idea among rural lawmakers — will be the plan’s “cornerstone,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer says.
Feb. 26, 2017
Chao: Partnerships aren't 'the answer for everything'
Public-private partnerships aren’t “the answer for everything,” Chao acknowledges to the National Governors Association, but the administration is interested in “innovative” funding ideas.
Feb. 28, 2017
Trump asks Congress for '$1 trillion investment' — both public and private
Invoking Dwight Eisenhower, Trump tells Congress he will propose “legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure… financed through both public and private capital.” Left unsaid: How much will the public portion cost? How will he pay for it?
March 8, 2017
Trump talks shovel-ready projects, Hyperloop
States wanting infrastructure money must be prepared to start projects in as little as 90 days,Trump says in a closed-door meeting attended by The Wall Street Journal. He also expressed interest in high-speed rail and Elon Musk’s high-tech Hyperloop.
March 8, 2017
Shuster expects action 'maybe this summer, early fall'
Action on an infrastructure package should come “sometime maybe this summer, early fall,” Shuster says, though cautioning that an Obamacare repeal and tax overhaul would come first.
March 23, 2017
Chao: Maybe in the fall
The infrastructure plan will probably come out in the fall, after Congress deals with health care and taxes, Chao says. She rejects Democrats’ proposal for $1 trillion in federal money. “We just don’t have that much money.”
March 24, 2017
Mnuchin: Plan could be 'even bigger' than $1 trillion
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the $1 trillion plan “may turn out that it’s even bigger than that,” though it won’t be all federal money. “We’re not going to fund a trillion dollars out of the deficit.”
April 5, 2017
Federal share may be $200 billion
The White House is considering calling for “$200 billion to $300 billion” in direct federal funding for the plan, unnamed officials tell The New York Times.
April 26, 2017
No mention of infrastructure in tax overhaul outline
The White House releases a one-page outline of principles for overhauling the tax code — but doesn’t say whether any revenue would go to infrastructure.
April 29, 2017
Trump: Plan is 'largely completed'
Trump tells CBS News that “we’ve got the plan largely completed, and we’ll be filing over the next two or three weeks, maybe sooner.”
May 1, 2017
Trump floats gas tax hike
Trump tells Bloomberg he “would certainly consider” increasing the gasoline tax to pay for infrastrucructure. But Spicer backtracks, saying Trump “did not express support for it.”
May 14, 2017
Chao: Lawmakers should take up plan in the 'third quarter'
Chao says the administration will soon release a statement of principles, and Congress will probably take up legislation in the third quarter of the year.
May 23, 2017
Trump's budget touts infrastructure plan while slashing existing programs
A six-page White House fact sheet calls for a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that includes $200 billion in federal money in the coming decade. But Trump’s budget proposes cutting a range of existing infrastructure programs, including DOT grants, Amtrak, transit and the Army Corps of Engineers, and it accuses state and local governments of “overreliance” on Washington.
June 18, 2017
Ryan: Infrastructure will be passed by the end of the year
Ryan tells donors and lobbyists during a weekend retreat that “a series of infrastructure bills will be passed by the end of the year,” POLITICO’s Playbook reports.
July 25, 2017
Trump defends infrastructure delay
“You know, a lot of people said you should have started with taxes or you should have started with infrastructure,” Trump tells The Wall Street Journal. “Well, infrastructure, I’ll actually have bipartisan support, and I can use infrastructure to carry other things along. So I don’t want to waste it at the beginning, if that makes sense.”
July 27, 2017
Senate appropriators slam Trump's approach
The Senate Appropriations Committee criticizes Trump’s budget cuts and the White House’s assertion that cities and states are too dependent on federal infrastructure dollars. “The administration’s approach is dangerously close to support for devolution of federal funding provided by the Highway Trust Fund,” the GOP-led panel adds.
Aug. 6, 2017
City, state infrastructure borrowing drops while everyone waits for Trump
“State and municipal governments have issued fewer bonds to improve roads, water systems and other projects so far in 2017,” Reuters reports, citing uncertainty about Trump’s plan as one reason.
Aug. 15, 2017
Trump blows up infrastructure news with Charlottesville comments
Trump announces an executive order to speed up permits for infrastructure permitting. But that’s overshadowed as he speaks about the deadly neo-Nazi protest in Charlottesville, Va., including his remark that it included “very fine people on both sides.”
Sept. 26, 2017
Trump distances himself from public-private partnerships
Trump expresses distaste for public-private partnerships in a closed-door meeting with House Democrats, The Washington Post reports — although it’s unclear whether that means they won’t be part of his plan.
Nov. 13, 2017
Aide: We're talking with Elon Musk
The White House talks regularly with Elon Musk, the Tesla founder who wants to drill massive tunnels to move people and goods underground, Trump technology adviser Reed Cordish says. But he says that doesn’t mean Musk would get — or even want — federal money.
Nov. 20, 2017
Trump: Infrastructure, 'welfare reform' coming after tax bill
Infrastructure will be one of a growing list of top priorities after Congress passes a tax-code overhaul, Trump promises.
Dec. 6, 2017
Budget cuts will pay for plan
“Funds from other cuts in the budget [will] pay for increased investment in infrastructure,” White House aide D.J. Gribbin says. He adds that the administration is “neutral” on whether to hike the gas tax.
Dec. 7, 2017
Infrastructure principles coming in January
Trump intends to send Congress “a detailed infrastructure principles document” in January, the White House says.
Dec. 12, 2017
Administration offers some details
An administration official tells POLITICO that the plan will rely heavily on dollars that state and local governments raise themselves or with private investors, and that highway or rail projects could compete with needs like rural broadband. The federal share remains $200 billion.
Jan. 9, 2018
Or maybe February?
The release of Trump’s plan might slip until after the Jan. 30 State of the Union address, lawmakers say after meeting with Chao and other officials.
Jan. 11, 2018
Trump: Plan could be $1.8 trillion
Trump tells The Wall Street Journal that total infrastructure spending under his plan “could be as much as $1.8 trillion.” But the share coming from the federal government would still be about $200 billion, which he concedes is “not a large amount.”
Jan. 22, 2018
Leaked draft causes dismay
A purported leaked draft document spells out details of how the administration would require cities and states to pay the vast majority of the costs for traditional road, rail and transit work, while providing separate pots of money for rural needs and “transformative” projects. It also talks about allowing tolls on more highways and selling federal property to raise money.
Jan. 23, 2018
Plan to come after State of the Union
A White House aide tells conservative groups that Trump could release the plan in two to four weeks, but first will outline some details in the State of the Union.
Jan. 30, 2018
Trump: 'America is a nation of builders'
Trump uses his State of the Union address to offer another pitch for his upcoming plan, setting the total price tag at $1.5 trillion. He also calls for “streamlining” permits so that projects can win approval in one or two years, instead of as many as 10.
Feb. 12, 2018
White House releases its blueprint
The White House issues a 55-page outline of its plan, which aims to use $200 billion in federal money — all offset by budget cuts — to generate $1.5 trillion in spending on projects including roads, bridges, airports, railroads, veterans’ hospitals, energy infrastructure, waste cleanups, drinking water and rural broadband.
May 12, 2015
Trump: 'I know how to build'
“The only one to fix the infrastructure of our country is me — roads, airports, bridges,” Donald Trump tweets a month before launching his campaign. “I know how to build, pols only know how to talk!”
July 21, 2016
He promises the infrastructure 'of tomorrow'
“Our roads and bridges are falling apart,” Trump says as he accepts the GOP nomination. “We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports and the railways of tomorrow. This, in turn, will create millions of more jobs.”
Aug. 2, 2016
$550 billion plan would double Hillary's
Trump tells Fox Business his infrastructure plan will cost “at least double” Hillary Clinton’s $275 billion, five-year proposal. “People,” “investors” and “citizens” would pay for it, taking advantage of “low interest rates.”
Oct. 23, 2016
$1 trillion plan to come in Trump's first 100 days
Trump’s “100-day action plan” includes legislation that would “spur” $1 trillion in infrastructure spending over 10 years. It includes tax incentives and partnerships between government and private business.
Nov. 9, 2016
Trump highlights infrastructure in victory speech
“We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals,” the president-elect says in his victory speech. “And we will put millions of our people to work.”
Nov. 10, 2016
Conservative groups: Not so fast
Some conservative groups express doubts that infrastructure should be a top priority or would create lots of jobs. “It would be a mistake to prioritize Big Government endeavors over important issues like repealing Obamacare,” says a Heritage Action for America spokesman.
Nov. 15, 2016
Adviser: Tax reform could pay for it
Tying infrastructure to tax reform could win Democrats’ support, Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore says, estimating the Treasury could reap $150 million from a low, one-time tax on corporations’ overseas earnings.
Nov. 18, 2016
Bannon: 'I'm the guy pushing a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan'
Steve Bannon tells Michael Wolff (yes, that Michael Wolff) that infrastructure will be the key to building “an entirely new political movement,” like Andrew Jackson’s. “With negative interest rates throughout the world, it’s the greatest opportunity to rebuild everything. … It will be as exciting as the 1930s, greater than the Reagan revolution.”
Nov. 20, 2016
Schumer can work with Trump
Democrats can work with Trump on a big infrastructure package, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says. He says he hopes the president-elect will “work with us, even if it means breaking with the Republicans who have always opposed these things.”
Nov. 22, 2016
Trump starts tempering expectations
Infrastructure will be part of Trump’s early agenda but not “the core” of it, the president-elect tells The New York Times. Still, “we’re talking about a very large-scale infrastructure bill. And that’s not a very Republican thing.”
Jan. 11, 2017
Senators press Chao on rural needs
Republican senators use Elaine Chao’s confirmation hearing to press the incoming transportation secretary on ensuring that rural communities get their share of infrastructure money.
Jan. 20, 2017
Inaugural speech: 'We will build new roads and highways'
Trump promises in his inauguration speech that “we will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation” — adding that in the past, the U.S. “spent trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.”
Jan. 20, 2017
White House website says energy money will go to infrastructure
“We will use the revenues from energy production to rebuild our roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure,” the new White House website says. It offers no details.
Jan. 24, 2017
Senate Democrats offer own $1 trillion plan
Schumer and other Senate Democrats lay out a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that would rely on federal funding. “As for how we pay for it, we will discuss that with Trump,” Schumer says.
Jan. 31, 2017
Shuster: Ryan expects 'something' on infrastructure by summer
House Speaker Paul Ryan “looks for us to do something late spring, early summer“ on Trump’s plan, Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster says. He adds: “It’s all going to be driven by tax reform because we got to figure out how to pay for this stuff.”
Feb. 23, 2017
Spicer: Public-private partnerships are the 'cornerstone' of the plan
Partnerships between government and private companies — a controversial idea among rural lawmakers — will be the plan’s “cornerstone,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer says.
Feb. 26, 2017
Chao: Partnerships aren't 'the answer for everything'
Public-private partnerships aren’t “the answer for everything,” Chao acknowledges to the National Governors Association, but the administration is interested in “innovative” funding ideas.
Feb. 28, 2017
Trump asks Congress for '$1 trillion investment' — both public and private
Invoking Dwight Eisenhower, Trump tells Congress he will propose “legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure… financed through both public and private capital.” Left unsaid: How much will the public portion cost? How will he pay for it?
March 8, 2017
Trump talks shovel-ready projects, Hyperloop
States wanting infrastructure money must be prepared to start projects in as little as 90 days,Trump says in a closed-door meeting attended by The Wall Street Journal. He also expressed interest in high-speed rail and Elon Musk’s high-tech Hyperloop.
March 8, 2017
Shuster expects action 'maybe this summer, early fall'
Action on an infrastructure package should come “sometime maybe this summer, early fall,” Shuster says, though cautioning that an Obamacare repeal and tax overhaul would come first.
March 23, 2017
Chao: Maybe in the fall
The infrastructure plan will probably come out in the fall, after Congress deals with health care and taxes, Chao says. She rejects Democrats’ proposal for $1 trillion in federal money. “We just don’t have that much money.”
March 24, 2017
Mnuchin: Plan could be 'even bigger' than $1 trillion
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the $1 trillion plan “may turn out that it’s even bigger than that,” though it won’t be all federal money. “We’re not going to fund a trillion dollars out of the deficit.”
April 5, 2017
Federal share may be $200 billion
The White House is considering calling for “$200 billion to $300 billion” in direct federal funding for the plan, unnamed officials tell The New York Times.
April 26, 2017
No mention of infrastructure in tax overhaul outline
The White House releases a one-page outline of principles for overhauling the tax code — but doesn’t say whether any revenue would go to infrastructure.
April 29, 2017
Trump: Plan is 'largely completed'
Trump tells CBS News that “we’ve got the plan largely completed, and we’ll be filing over the next two or three weeks, maybe sooner.”
May 1, 2017
Trump floats gas tax hike
Trump tells Bloomberg he “would certainly consider” increasing the gasoline tax to pay for infrastrucructure. But Spicer backtracks, saying Trump “did not express support for it.”
May 14, 2017
Chao: Lawmakers should take up plan in the 'third quarter'
Chao says the administration will soon release a statement of principles, and Congress will probably take up legislation in the third quarter of the year.
May 23, 2017
Trump's budget touts infrastructure plan while slashing existing programs
A six-page White House fact sheet calls for a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that includes $200 billion in federal money in the coming decade. But Trump’s budget proposes cutting a range of existing infrastructure programs, including DOT grants, Amtrak, transit and the Army Corps of Engineers, and it accuses state and local governments of “overreliance” on Washington.
June 18, 2017
Ryan: Infrastructure will be passed by the end of the year
Ryan tells donors and lobbyists during a weekend retreat that “a series of infrastructure bills will be passed by the end of the year,” POLITICO’s Playbook reports.
July 25, 2017
Trump defends infrastructure delay
“You know, a lot of people said you should have started with taxes or you should have started with infrastructure,” Trump tells The Wall Street Journal. “Well, infrastructure, I’ll actually have bipartisan support, and I can use infrastructure to carry other things along. So I don’t want to waste it at the beginning, if that makes sense.”
July 27, 2017
Senate appropriators slam Trump's approach
The Senate Appropriations Committee criticizes Trump’s budget cuts and the White House’s assertion that cities and states are too dependent on federal infrastructure dollars. “The administration’s approach is dangerously close to support for devolution of federal funding provided by the Highway Trust Fund,” the GOP-led panel adds.
Aug. 6, 2017
City, state infrastructure borrowing drops while everyone waits for Trump
“State and municipal governments have issued fewer bonds to improve roads, water systems and other projects so far in 2017,” Reuters reports, citing uncertainty about Trump’s plan as one reason.
Aug. 15, 2017
Trump blows up infrastructure news with Charlottesville comments
Trump announces an executive order to speed up permits for infrastructure permitting. But that’s overshadowed as he speaks about the deadly neo-Nazi protest in Charlottesville, Va., including his remark that it included “very fine people on both sides.”
Sept. 26, 2017
Trump distances himself from public-private partnerships
Trump expresses distaste for public-private partnerships in a closed-door meeting with House Democrats, The Washington Post reports — although it’s unclear whether that means they won’t be part of his plan.
Nov. 13, 2017
Aide: We're talking with Elon Musk
The White House talks regularly with Elon Musk, the Tesla founder who wants to drill massive tunnels to move people and goods underground, Trump technology adviser Reed Cordish says. But he says that doesn’t mean Musk would get — or even want — federal money.
Nov. 20, 2017
Trump: Infrastructure, 'welfare reform' coming after tax bill
Infrastructure will be one of a growing list of top priorities after Congress passes a tax-code overhaul, Trump promises.
Dec. 6, 2017
Budget cuts will pay for plan
“Funds from other cuts in the budget [will] pay for increased investment in infrastructure,” White House aide D.J. Gribbin says. He adds that the administration is “neutral” on whether to hike the gas tax.
Dec. 7, 2017
Infrastructure principles coming in January
Trump intends to send Congress “a detailed infrastructure principles document” in January, the White House says.
Dec. 12, 2017
Administration offers some details
An administration official tells POLITICO that the plan will rely heavily on dollars that state and local governments raise themselves or with private investors, and that highway or rail projects could compete with needs like rural broadband. The federal share remains $200 billion.
Jan. 9, 2018
Or maybe February?
The release of Trump’s plan might slip until after the Jan. 30 State of the Union address, lawmakers say after meeting with Chao and other officials.
Jan. 11, 2018
Trump: Plan could be $1.8 trillion
Trump tells The Wall Street Journal that total infrastructure spending under his plan “could be as much as $1.8 trillion.” But the share coming from the federal government would still be about $200 billion, which he concedes is “not a large amount.”
Jan. 22, 2018
Leaked draft causes dismay
A purported leaked draft document spells out details of how the administration would require cities and states to pay the vast majority of the costs for traditional road, rail and transit work, while providing separate pots of money for rural needs and “transformative” projects. It also talks about allowing tolls on more highways and selling federal property to raise money.
Jan. 23, 2018
Plan to come after State of the Union
A White House aide tells conservative groups that Trump could release the plan in two to four weeks, but first will outline some details in the State of the Union.
Jan. 30, 2018
Trump: 'America is a nation of builders'
Trump uses his State of the Union address to offer another pitch for his upcoming plan, setting the total price tag at $1.5 trillion. He also calls for “streamlining” permits so that projects can win approval in one or two years, instead of as many as 10.
Feb. 12, 2018
White House releases its blueprint
The White House issues a 55-page outline of its plan, which aims to use $200 billion in federal money — all offset by budget cuts — to generate $1.5 trillion in spending on projects including roads, bridges, airports, railroads, veterans’ hospitals, energy infrastructure, waste cleanups, drinking water and rural broadband.
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