Trump can railroad his critics by building speedy passenger rail
If opponents can swallow their pride, there's a GOP path to high-speed rail
Anytime we’re entering or exiting an election cycle, I’ll write about bipartisan attacks on good urbanism and bipartisan support for good urbanism. Land use and transportation shouldn’t be red or blue, but our modern culture can’t resist the urge to lump everything into one of two political buckets. Mass transit is probably the most common. We’re to believe Republicans hate transit and Democrats love transit.
From the Biden administration:
We've got to take things to the next level. I want the U.S. to be leading the world when it comes to access to high-speed rail.
—Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, February 2021
Success, as I’m sure you know, has been mixed. In June 2024, Secretary Pete said he's confident California high-speed rail would be complete by 2050. The New York Times reported it wouldn’t be finished this century. Rich Tolmach, head of the California Rail Foundation, said it would never be operable.
But there have been encouraging developments. Brightline is aiming to have high-speed passenger service from Las Vegas to Los Angeles by 2028.
So many Americans have traveled abroad and seen what true high-speed rail is like, have come back and said, ‘Why can’t we have nice [passenger rail]?’
—Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, April 2024
A few months ago, Elon Musk hosted a live conversation with Donald Trump, and when the topic turned to transportation, they agreed Americans are missing out by not having high-speed rail.
These bullet trains—they're unbelievably fast, unbelievably comfortable. We don't have anything like that. Anything close. It doesn't make sense that we don't.
—Donald Trump, August 2024
You’ve got an incoming Republican President along with the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency praising high-speed rail. You can imagine Trump taking credit during the ribbon cutting ceremony:
I wanted the fastest trains for Americans. High-speed rail isn’t good enough, we’ve got to have the highest-speed rail. A few months later they said, 'Sir, we need to create a new speed category for this project because it's faster than anything we've seen.' I said 'do it,' and they did it and it's done. Some say it’s the most beautiful train they’ve ever seen.
—Donald Trump, some day, probably
It’s noteworthy that Trump and Musk praised mass transit in their meandering discussion, when the caricature of both men is that they want mass transit to fail. Let’s say the two of them were simply courting the train vote leading up to the election and don’t really care about high-speed passenger rail. Even the biggest egos are persuadable. Trump himself wrote a book about it.
If I was infiltrating his circle of influence, I’d use his own words from Art of the Deal to advocate for high-speed rail in a way that would move him to action:
Think BIG
Trump repeatedly emphasizes the power of thinking big and ambitious. HSR would be a bold legacy project that would showcase American ambition on a global scale. It could outshine infrastructure projects abroad, representing American ingenuity, resilience, and influence. The grandeur alone would make him do one of those silly dances.
Protect the downside and the upside will take care of itself
Trump stresses minimizing risk to secure big rewards. With all the HSR failures we’ve seen, I’d focus on clear, step-by-step stages that start with high-demand regions. Get his advisors to develop risk mitigation strategies like lining up private sector partners to roll out in a way that builds incremental success.
Use your leverage
Trump advises knowing and maximizing leverage in any deal. Identify leverage points—such as the demand for jobs and pressure to reduce traffic congestion—and show how he could leverage these factors to gain widespread support. Position the president as the leader who can “make the deal happen.”
Enhance your location
Location adds value, whether it’s real estate or business. Strategic locations for stations would elevate property values and spur economic development. Show how the project could reshape entire communities, enhancing their appeal and boosting economies. A rail station in key cities or even near properties Trump might influence could create desirable, high-profile locations that align with his interests in valuable, high-impact real estate.
Fight back
The guy obviously loves to confront opposition head-on. In this case, opposition will definitely come from Motordom. Backing HSR means positioning Trump as a disruptor who’s willing to take on the status quo, much like he did in his campaign. This combative edge could appeal to his preference for shaking things up and tackling opposition boldly. It doesn’t matter if he truly is a disruptor. The point is selling the idea.
Deliver the goods
The book emphasizes the importance of following through on promises. (I know, rich, coming from a guy who famously left allies in the lurch.) Highlighting the real, tangible benefits of HSR—job creation, economic stimulus, global competitiveness—reinforces the idea that this isn’t just a dream but a project that can bring concrete gains to the American public. Trump’s only going to be in office one more term, but we all know he wants future generations talking about him.
Frame HSR as a high-stakes, high-reward opportunity that’s big, bold, and disruptive—and demonstrating how it aligns with Trump’s own advice—position the project as a legacy-defining achievement.
Robert Greene’s epic, The 48 Laws of Power, is another great resource for getting people in positions of power to do what you want. I can’t recommend this book enough. The title sounds like a how-to book for being a bully, but it’s about understanding what makes different types of people tick.
So if Trump was on the fence about high-speed rail, here are some laws of power that could be applied:
Law 6: Court attention at all costs
Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses.
Law 37: Create compelling spectacles
Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power—everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then, full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.
Law 7: Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit
Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.
Law 21: Play a sucker to catch a sucker—seem dumber than your mark
No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, then, is to make your victims feel smart—and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.
Quick commentary on this one since it’s counterintuitive for Trump. But think of the domino effect among Democratic supporters of high-speed rail if he said, "I don't understand why we have so many government regulations to slow down high-speed rail." It’s a strategic play to get bipartisan cooperation even if it means sharing the credit later.
Law 44: Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect.
The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of the Mirror Effect.
The visceral human reaction is to avoid giving someone like Donald Trump an opportunity for a win. Almost half the country actively roots against him. But what about opportunities for shared interest? What if powerful people who are on your hate list can deliver something you love? Isn’t that worth exploring?
This was a great read, Andy! It's a good reminder too that we often focus on what we see as the benefit of a project (HSR fights climate change, for example), but if we take another perspective (HSR is good for the economy, HSR creates jobs, etc) and market it that way, we can get the same end result with cooperation from a bigger coalition.
A couple of thoughts:
(1) When HSR was introduced in the vicinity of Madrid, Spain, some of the towns in the area became new commuter bases for the Big City - the economic benefit.
(2) Less seriously: if The Trump Train pictured above has a horn to announce its arrival, will it be (a) effective and (b) a Trumpet?