Trump promises ‘first-class’ infrastructure system for US

CINCINNATI — President Trump promised Wednesday to create a “first-class” system of roads, bridges and waterways by using $200 billion in public funds to generate $1 trillion in investment to pay for construction projects that most public officials agree are badly needed and long overdue.

“America must have the best, fastest and most reliable infrastructure anywhere in the world,” Trump said, pushing his infrastructure plan in middle America as Washington geared up for Thursday’s appearance before Congress by fired FBI Director James Comey.

In the speech, the president also pressed the Senate to send him a health care bill, criticized congressional Democrats as “obstructionists” and revisited his controversial decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.

While infrastructure initially was seen as an area where Republican and Democrats could work together, Democrats have balked at Trump’s plan for financing improvements, arguing it would result in taxpayer-funded profits for corporations with the cost offloaded on consumers.

Before the speech, Trump met aboard Air Force One with a pair of families the White House said are “victims” of the Obama-era health care law that the president and congressional Republicans want to repeal and replace.