White House budget gives rough outline of Trump infrastructure plan

On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump pledged to invest $500 billion in infrastructure. His first annual White House budget calls for $1 trillion.

The budget document, released May 23, says the White House intends to meet this $1 trillion goal through "new Federal funding, incentivized non-Federal funding, and expedited projects that would not have happened but for the Administration's involvement (for example, the Keystone XL Pipeline)."

This means the administration wants to spend about $200 billion over 10 years that it believes will, in turn, spur private investment.

A fact sheet attached to the budget says the government could incentivize more private and local investment by, for example, expanding a program that provides credit and financing for infrastructure projects and lifting restrictions on highway tolls.

The budget also calls for eliminating regulations that the White House views as burdensome to accomplishing major infrastructure projects.

Since Trump's election, some Democrats have expressed willingness to work with Trump on an infrastructure spending plan. But Senate Democrats blasted his budget for actually cutting more than $200 billion from existing infrastructure programs, such as major cuts to Amtrak.

The White House budget is only a proposal, and it doesn't contain much detail. Congress would have to pass legislation for Trump's infrastructure plan to become reality.

The document reflects Trump's policy priorities, though, and so we rate his promise to invest $550 billion in infrastructure In the Works.