The Gateway Program to expand and revitalize rail tunnels beneath the Hudson River could be a major boon to President Trump’s legacy — so long as he can look past Gov. Cuomo’s critiques to fu𓄧nd it, veteran New York Republican Al ⛦D’Amato said Sunday.
“T💃he [Hudson River tunnel] is essential,” the former U.S. senator told host John Catsimatidis on his 970 AM radio show. “I hope that the president does not take out his political animus on the Governor or on the state, but rather recognizes, as a very successful entrepreneur, how important this project can and will be.”
Cuomo has long been a champion of the massive infrastructure overhaul, improving rail links between Newꦉ York and New Jersey, but has insisted that the project c𒈔an only get done with federal funding.
The feds pledged to chip in about half of the project’s $13 billion price tag in the waning years of the Obama admin𓆉istration, but have yet to approve the funding since Trump took over.
Cuomo and Trump broke bread last week to discuss the project, among other issues, but Trump remained non-committal towards backing what he called “probably the world’s most expensive project” despite their having “a good relationship,” as exclusively reported by The Post.
D’Amato, known as “Senator Pothole” for delivering to his Long Island district when he was in office, said Sunday that the meeting was a good first step, and hoped that Trump wouldn’t spite the project over Cuomo’s frequent barbs towards the president.
“I applaud the governor for going down to see the 𝄹president. [Cuomo] has not been kind to the president with his rhetoric,” D’Amato said. “I would hope that the president doesn’t take🌱 that out on him.”
“Th⭕is would be one of the most important projects that could be completed in a relatively short period of time and at a reasonable cost.”
The former senior GO꧂P legislator added that overall he approved of Trump’s policies — but wished he would log off of social media.
“His policies are much better than his Twitter account,” he s😼aid. “He tweets too much. He feels it necessary to 💙attack people who don’t totally march to his drum.”
D’Amato cited as an example Trump’s long-run💛ning feud with basketball star LeBron James.
James “commits something like $2 million to his hometown to help kids,” D’Ama𝓡to said. “And Donald Trump says LeBron James isn’t the smartest person in the world.”
Trump “does this to hi✱mself continuously,” D’Amato continued. “While his policies in many cases are🔥 right, it is personal attacks that are gratuitous and take away from his presidency.”
“The 𝔉substance of his administration is lost in the bombastic rhetoric that he🧸 engages in.”