Trump: The project in New York—it is billions and billions of dollars of that Schumer has worked 20 years to get. It is terminated. pic.twitter.com/TLP4ell0U5

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 15, 2025

Led Zeppelin once sang about a Stairway to Heaven. Apparently, Donald Trump wants to put Jack Ciattarelli's campaign on a Highway to Hell - or up against a brick wall with no way to tunnel to daylight.

Blaming the ongoing government shutdown on Democrats, the President did an endzone dance as he announced his decision to stick a fork in the long-delayed Gateway Tunnel Project.

"The project in New York—it is billions and billions of dollars of that [Senate Democratic Leader Chuck] Schumer has worked 20 years to get," Trump told reporters at a press conference broadcast by Fox News (above). "It is terminated."

The President's timing, with less than a month before Election Day in New Jersey in a close race pitting Democratic Mikie Sherrill against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, appeared to create hazardous driving conditions - at the very least - for Ciattarelli.

Ciattarelli needs strong vote totals out of North Jersey and has worked hard for endorsements from the likes of North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco and the Operating Engineers.

Trump tonight appeared to have a completely different set of priorities.

Advanced during the administration of President Joe Biden, the overall Gateway Hudson River Tunnel project is a $17.18 billion investment that would improve resilience, reliability, and redundancy for New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) train service between New York and New Jersey.

The project aims to reduce commute times for NJ Transit riders, enhance Amtrak reliability on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), and support the northeast regional economy.

This critical infrastructure project would repair nearly 100-year-old tunnels severely damaged during Superstorm Sandy, while creating nearly 100,000 good-paying jobs and generating $42.8 billion in economic activity in the region.

Former Governor Chris Christie once killed an earlier iteration of the project called ARC (Access to the Region's Core), creating a dormant situation for years until Biden found common cause with Governor Phil Murphy.

Said the Mikie Sherrill Campaign in response to tonight's announcement from Trump:

"While Jack [Ciattarelli] has refused to stand up for this critical investment in New Jersey infrastructure, Mikie will always go to bat for the thousands of residents who rely on NJ TRANSIT."

Sherrill added in a video:

"When I am governor, I will be taking anyone and everyone to court to unstick this money. This is money that New Jersey has fought for and should be dedicated to the tunnel. My opponent on the other hand has said he has not heard anyone complaining.

"You know what?" Sherrill added. "I'm complaining.

Ciattarelli issued a statement on X:

"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. This is a critical infrastructure project and I will fight to get it done."

To date, the Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey had not disagreed with the President and, in the last debate, awarded Trump an "A" as President.

Earlier today, Axios reported the following:

President Trump plans to throw the weight of his endorsement and his allies' fundraising behind Jack Ciattarelli, the GOP nominee for New Jersey governor in next month's elections.

Sherrill, for her part, affixed an "F" alongside Trump.

Said one ally of the Congresswoman: "it does... shine a spotlight on Sherrill's consistent priority of fighting for the state against federal threat."

Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Andy Kim (D-NJ) issued the following joint statement in response to Trump saying the Gateway Project is “terminated” earlier this evening:

“Threatening to cut funding for Gateway is a direct attack on New Jersey by the Trump Administration. It sends a clear signal that President Trump is more focused on punishing perceived enemies than serving the American people or delivering for New Jersey families. 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. 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.”

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5) of Bergen County, who backed Sherrill for Governor after losing the Democratic Primary, issued the following statement:

"President Trump is taking a sledgehammer to one of the most important infrastructure projects in the entire country. And with that, he’s taking a sledgehammer to tens of thousands of jobs, to our economy, to labor, and to American competitiveness.

"I helped write, negotiate, and pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, which secured the funding for the Gateway Train Tunnel. These are dollars that will help fix tunnels people rely on to get to work that are literally crumbling — dollars already approved by Congress and signed into law.

"I hope both Republicans and Democrats in New Jersey and New York stand with me in fighting back. We cannot let partisan chaos take a wrecking ball to Gateway."