California drops lawsuit challenging Trump

California has dropped a lawsuit challenging the decision by the administration of President Donald Trump to cancel more than $4 billion in federal grants for the state's high-speed rail project, the state said late on Friday.



The California High-Speed Rail Authority, which filed the suit in July, said the decision to abandon it on Tuesday reflected the state's "assessment that the federal government is not a reliable, constructive, or trustworthy partner in advancing high-speed rail in California."



The agency said it plans to move forward without federal funding, adding that only 18% of program expenditures for the long-delayed project have come from federal funds.



A judge this month rejected a bid to dismiss the lawsuit. The U.S. Transportation Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.



Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in July that termination of the grants by the administration of Republican President Donald Trump amounted to "petty, political retribution, motivated by President Trump's personal animus toward California and the high-speed rail project, not the facts on the ground."



The funding cuts are the latest hurdle in the 16-year effort to link Los Angeles and San Francisco by a three-hour train ride, a project that would deliver the fastest passenger rail service in the United States.