Trump laments lack of ‘fast trains’ in US during meeting with airline execs

President Trump lamented the lack of high-speed rail service in the U.S. during his meeting with top airline executives on Thursday.

“You go to China, you go to Japan, they have fast trains all over the place,” Trump said.

Meeting attendees included the CEOs for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue Airways.

“I don’t want to compete with your business, but we don’t have one fast train,” Trump said to laughs.

{mosads}Trump was discussing the need to modernize the country’s infrastructure during the sit-down, which is just the latest in a series of “listening sessions” between the new administration and various business leaders. They also talked about jobs, economic growth and tax reform during the aviation meeting.

“It’s the same thing with our airports,” he said. “Our airports used to be the best. Now they’re at the bottom of the rung.”

Massive spending on high-speed rail has been somewhat divisive in Congress. Earlier this week, California Republicans asked the Trump administration to block new grant money that they argue would eventually benefit a high-speed railway linking the state’s two metropolitan hubs, Los Angeles and the Bay Area, after federal officials concluded last month that the rail line is likely to cost taxpayers far more than was initially projected.