Trump announces $200bn infrastructure plan

Donald Trump has proposed a $200 billion infrastructure plan for the US, with critics already labelling it a “scam”.

The US President is hoping that Congress will sign off on his plans to invest in roads, highways, ports and airports.

“We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways all across our land. And we will do it with American heart, and American hands, and American grit,” he said, adding that the plan was “the biggest and boldest infrastructure investment in American history.”

Trump hopes that the initial investment will raise a further $1.3 trillion from the private sector. Congress is likely to oppose the grand total $4.4 trillion plans.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said: “After a full year of empty boasts, the president has finally unveiled a puny infrastructure scam that fully fails to meet the need in America’s communities.”

“We have spent $7 trillion in the Middle East, $7 trillion. What a mistake,” said Trump. 

“And we’re trying to build roads and bridges and fix bridges that are falling down and we have a hard time getting the money and its crazy.”

The President’s plans call for a total of $50 billion worth of public funding to be spent on modernising infrastructure in rural areas.

Other plans include $100 billion for incentives programmes “to spur additional dedicated funds from States, localities, and the private sector”.

Acknowledging that the plans might not be passed by Congress, Trump said his priorities still lay with military spending and the tax cuts proposed at the end of 2017. 

“What was very important to me was the military; what was very important to me was the tax cuts, and what was very important to me was regulation. This is of great importance, but it’s not nearly of that category because the states will have to do it themselves if we don’t do it,” he said at a press conference.