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MaddowBlog-Trump tries to blame Schumer for the president's own Gateway tunnel project debacle
The president didn’t deny the absurd proposal, but he did try to blame the Senate Democratic leader for the idea. Schumer called it an “absolute lie.”
As Trump asks us to believe Schumer wanted to rename Penn Station and Dulles Airport after Trump, there are fresh reasons this should be more than a one-day story. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-02-09T14:57:14.395Z
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-tries-to-blame-schumer-for-the-presidents-own-gateway-tunnel-project-debacle
The president’s pitch was, for all intents and purposes, an attempt at extortion: If Democrats wanted to save a critical infrastructure project and prevent the job losses, they had to indulge Trump’s obsession with self-glorification.
The White House made little effort to deny the accuracy of the reporting, and on Friday night, during a brief Q&A on Air Force One, a reporter asked the Republican, “Can you set the record straight? There were reports circulating that you told Chuck Schumer that in order to restore funding for the Gateway train tunnel in New York, New Jersey, you would want Penn Station and Dulles Airport to be named after you. Is that true?”
The ideal answer would have been, “No, of course not, that would be insane.” Alas, that’s not what Trump said.
....In other words, we’re supposed to believe that the Democratic Senate leader, among others, approached Trump with the idea of renaming an airport and one of the nation’s most storied train stations after the president they vehemently oppose.
Schumer wasted little time in responding to this absurdity, calling the claim an “absolute lie.”
.....And yet, here we are, watching this same scenario unfold.
As for the underlying legal fight over the White House’s tactics, U.S. District Court Judge Jeannette Vargas on Friday blocked the administration from suspending funds for the Gateway project. It was a preliminary ruling that allowed the investments to continue while broader legal issues continue to be adjudicated. Watch this space.
The White House made little effort to deny the accuracy of the reporting, and on Friday night, during a brief Q&A on Air Force One, a reporter asked the Republican, “Can you set the record straight? There were reports circulating that you told Chuck Schumer that in order to restore funding for the Gateway train tunnel in New York, New Jersey, you would want Penn Station and Dulles Airport to be named after you. Is that true?”
The ideal answer would have been, “No, of course not, that would be insane.” Alas, that’s not what Trump said.
Link to tweet
....In other words, we’re supposed to believe that the Democratic Senate leader, among others, approached Trump with the idea of renaming an airport and one of the nation’s most storied train stations after the president they vehemently oppose.
Schumer wasted little time in responding to this absurdity, calling the claim an “absolute lie.”
.....And yet, here we are, watching this same scenario unfold.
As for the underlying legal fight over the White House’s tactics, U.S. District Court Judge Jeannette Vargas on Friday blocked the administration from suspending funds for the Gateway project. It was a preliminary ruling that allowed the investments to continue while broader legal issues continue to be adjudicated. Watch this space.
