How Trump Might Try to Fix Bridges and Highways: QuickTake Q&A

It’s one point of agreement in a politically polarized government: U.S. highways, bridges and airports are in need of repair and rehabilitation. Like his predecessor, Barack Obama, President Donald Trump says a boost to so-called infrastructure spending would be good not just for roads and bridges but for the workers such projects would employ. Trump pledged in his victory speech to "rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals," an effort that "will put millions of our people to work." The details are still to come, and the two parties do not see eye to eye on where to find the money.

To fix a system that’s "literally falling apart," Trump vowed, on his transition website, "to invest $550 billion to ensure we can export our goods and move our people faster and safer." He later upped the ante to $1 trillion. And he said he’ll do this while reducing taxes and the national debt.