Trump Makes a Shocking Offer on Infrastructure Funding

Lots of startling news today! A social media post by President Trump that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes was deleted after widespread criticism, including rare rebukes from Republican lawmakers. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had initially defended the racist post and dismissed "fake outrage" over it. The White House later claimed that a staffer had mistakenly posted the video. Here's what else we're watching while keeping an eye on the opening of the Winter Olympic Games.

Trump Makes a Shocking Offer on Frozen Infrastructure Funding

Trump administration officials offered Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to release billions of dollars in frozen federal funding for a critical rail tunnel project connecting New York and New Jersey - but only for a price: support for renaming New York's Penn Station and Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., for President Trump.

The extraordinary offer, first reported by Punchbowl News, was rejected by Schumer, who in any case would have little direct say in changing either name.

With funding for the project suspended by the administration, work on it was halted on Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced. "Thousands of jobs on the line. Billions in economic benefits at risk. All because Donald Trump is on a revenge tour," Hochul, a Democrat, wrote on X.

After the federal government shut down last October, Trump announced that his administration "terminated" the Gateway Tunnel project under the Hudson River, a critical, $16 billion transportation infrastructure plan for New York, New Jersey and other northeastern states. Funding for the project has yet to be released, even though the shutdown ended in November and Congress has since passed annual appropriations bills to fund federal operations. The Trump administration said early on that Gateway funding was under review to ensure compliance with its new rules regarding diversity, equity and inclusion programs, though it has since offered inconsistent explanations for the move.

As the funding fight dragged on, the commission leading the project sued the government on Monday for breach of contract, claiming that the Department of Transportation had failed to disburse more than $205 million for project costs without any contractual basis for withholding the funds. "DOT's breach has jeopardized the project, threatened the livelihoods of the countless workers employed in its construction, endangered passengers who must rely on decaying, century-old rail infrastructure, and undermined the United States' reputation as a reliable contracting party," the lawsuit says.

Democratic officials argue that Congress has approved funding for the project and that stopping work now makes little sense. About 1,000 people have been working on the project, and the commission's lawsuit says that nearly $2 billion has already been spent, adding that a forced halt to construction "will result in massive job losses for workers" as well as other costs.

New York and New Jersey also sued the Trump administration this week, charging that the funding halt was an act of political retribution by the president based on Trump's desire to punish political rivals. "Donald Trump's revenge tour on New York threatens to derail one of the most vital infrastructure projects this nation has built in generations, putting thousands of union jobs and billions of dollars in economic benefits in jeopardy and threatening the commutes of 200,000 riders," Hochul said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand rejected the idea of renaming Penn Station or Dulles airport in exchange for unfreezing funding. "This is ridiculous," she wrote in a post on X. "These naming rights aren't tradable as part of any negotiations, and neither is the dignity of New Yorkers. At a time when New Yorkers are already being crushed by high costs under the Trump tariffs, the president continues to put his own narcissism over the good-paying union jobs this project provides and the extraordinary economic impact the Gateway tunnel will bring."

The president has long plastered his name on buildings and golf courses, dating back to his days as a developer. As a businessman, he put the Trump name on a range of failed products ranging from water and vodka to steaks and a for-profit "university." As president, he has put his name - and sometimes his image - on a "gold card" program for immigrants, new investment accounts for children, a new class of battleships, the U.S. Institute for Peace, the Kennedy Center for performing arts, a White House ballroom now under construction and the newly launched TrumpRx prescription drug website, among other things.

Hochul's press office responded to Trump's latest effort at legacy-building with tongue-in-cheek post on X proposing a different renaming of a New York landmark, one the president knows well:

Average American Worker Retirement Savings: $955

The median American worker has saved just $955 for retirement, the National Institute on Retirement Security said this week in a new report that highlights the precarious financial outlook shared by millions of people in the United States.

The median savings figure is based on all workers between the ages of 21 and 64, using data drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation. Millions of workers have access to employer-sponsored retirement plans such as 401(k)s, and for those who do, average retirement savings are higher at $40,000. But for the 56 million workers who do not have access to employer-sponsored plans, retirement savings levels are much lower.

"The bottom line is that if Americans are not saving for retirement through their employer, then they are probably not saving at all," the NIRS analysts said.

The report underlines the importance of Social Security as a crucial safety net for workers as they reach retirement age. For the typical older adult, Social Security accounts for about half of their income. For those without retirement plans, the percentage is higher. The outlook for Social Security is gloomy, though, with a roughly 20% benefit cut in store in less than 10 years if Congress fails to shore up the system.

Overall, most Americans fall far short of the recommended savings level for retirement. Many financial planners recommend that workers have eight times their annual income saved by the time they are 60, but few workers get close to that level.

"Preparing for retirement in America remains a challenge for many workers," the report concludes. "While Social Security's nearly universal coverage forms a solid foundation, its replacement rates drop off quickly and many middle- and upper-income workers will need additional sources of income in retirement. The lack of a universal savings system leaves workers exposed to the patchy coverage of the private savings system. Certain categories of workers, such as those with lower levels of education or lower incomes, are especially likely to be left out and, therefore, fall behind in saving for retirement."

Fiscal News Roundup

• GOP, Democrats Expect DHS Shutdown After Talks Fizzle – The Hill
• Officials Pressed Schumer to Help Name Penn Station, Dulles for Trump – New York Times
• Trump Promises Schumer Funding for NY Tunnel Project - if Penn Station and Dulles Airport Are Renamed After Him – CNN
• $16 Billion Tunnel Project Winding Down After Trump Funding Freeze – New York Times
• Democrats Erupt Over Trump Push to Rename Dulles, Penn Station – Axios
• Democrats Continue Pressure to Fund Gateway on Day of Deadline – Politico
• TrumpRx Debuts With Several Dozen Discounted Drugs – Politico
• Amazon's Tax Bill Plunges After GOP Tax Cuts – Politico
• White House Excluding Dems From Its Annual Governors Meeting – Politico
• Trump Strikes Deal to Allow $800M in Beef Imports From Argentina to Enter US – The Hill
• Trump's Racist Post About Obamas Is Deleted After Backlash Despite White House Earlier Defending It – Associated Press
• Tim Scott Calls Obamas Video Shared by Trump 'Most Racist Thing I've Seen Out of This White House' – The Hill
• Stocks Hit Historic Milestone as Dow Crosses 50,000 Points for First Time Ever – CNN

Views and Analysis

• Trump's Quest to Name Things After Himself Takes an Even More Desperate Turn – Aaron Blake, CNN
• Trump Says Tariffs Have Created an Economic Miracle. The Facts Tell a Different Story – Paul Wiseman and Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press
• President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' Raises the Fiscal Gap to 2.4 Percent – Jared Bernstein and Bobby Kogan, Center for American Progress
• How to Tell if You Will Save Money Using TrumpRx – Rebecca Robbins, New York Times
• Trump's Prescription Drug Website Exposed as a Big Fat Scam – Hafiz Rashid, New Republic
• How Trump's $10 Billion Suit Against His Own Government Could Go Sideways – Peter Nicholas, NBC News
• America's Rare-Earths Solution Is Hiding in Plain Sight – Julie Michelle Klinger, New York Times
• ACA Fraud Is Real. It's Time to Get Serious About Fixing It – Bloomberg Editorial Board
• The Finance Industry Is a Grift. Let's Start Treating It That Way – Oren Cass, New York Times
• An IRS Policy That Discourages Generosity – Max Raskin, Wall Street Journal
• Democrats Confront the Party's Questionnaire-Industrial Complex – Jonathan Martin, Politico
• Trump Tries to Show Off His Math Skills, but Flunks Arithmetic – Steve Benen, MS Now