Cuomo says Trump is punishing New York for being too blue

New York's goverr says he believes President Donald Trump is punishing his home state for being too liberal. In past few weeks, New York has come out on losing end on a series of federal acts.

Army Corps of Engineers slashed funding for a study of a colossal offshore sea wall that could potentially protect New York City from major hurricanes after Trump tweeted it was “costly, foolish,” and would also “look terrible.”

“Sorry, you’ll just have to get your mops & buckets rey!” president wrote.

Earlier this month, Department of Homeland Security

State transportation officials have also complained that federal highway officials are holding up approval of a plan to reduce traffic congestion in New York City by charging new fees to drive in certain pats of Manhattan.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and or state Democrats said Wednesday it's all evidence that Republican president is punishing blue states including New York over ir politics.

“I think presence of ir political motivation has been documented over and over again,” Cuomo said.

"We are witnessing weaponization of federal powers to serve a specific political nda,” said state Senate Majority Leer Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

White House didn’t immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday.

Trump has me his disdain for New York's Democratic leers plain, calling m “sleazy," inept and worse. He called New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio “worst mayor in history of New York City.” He anunced last fall that he'd

“All y do is sue me all time!” he tweeted, t untruthfully.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has sued Trump ministration multiple times, did so again Wednesday, joining or Democrat-led states in challenging proposed changes to federal labor rules.

state sued Trump University over its business practices and more recently sued over alleged misconduct at Trump's charitable foundation, forcing him into a $2 million settlement. Meanwhile, Manhattan's district attorney filed a brief with Supreme Court on Wednesday in his battle to get copies of Trump's tax returns as part of a criminal investigation.

ministration officials and Trump himself, however, have dismissed allegations that those personal disputes have anything to do with ministration's policy decisions regarding New York state.

One of latest state-federal spats emerged this week over Trump ministration’s move to scuttle an Army Corps of Engineers study —inspired by 2012 Superstorm Sandy — into wher a multi-billion-dollar sea wall could protect parts of city and New Jersey from surging seas.

idea of a huge wall around New York's harbor hn't been universally loved. Trump was only one of several critics who decried it as potentially ineffective. But even some local politicians and environmental groups that h criticized proposal decried surprise discontinuation of coastal resiliency study.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, a Democrat, called decision to suspend study “reckless," and said it would expose region "to ravs of next superstorm.” New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Carine McCabe, also a Democrat, said she’s “deeply disappointed” that corps’ work — including smaller resiliency projects — was suspended.

Robert Freudenberg, vice president for energy and environment at Regional Plan Association, a npartisan infrastructure think tank, said cancellation of study is “part of a disturbing pattern.”

“Can our congressional delegations shake funds loose to continue this study?” he asked. “And if t, what can our states do?”

Trump’s budget, meanwhile, lacks funding for or infrastructure projects that New York leers h once hoped would get easy approval with a New York native in White House, including costly proposals to build a new train tunnel beneath Hudson River and $3 billion in federal funding for a subway expansion project.

Those ermously costly projects might have also failed to become funding priorities in any ministration, but Cuomo says he sees evidence of a vendetta.

“Because this is t just federal government taking an isolated action that is hurting state,” Cuomo said earlier this week after state lost a federal health care grant worth $600 million this year. "re is a continued pattern and series of se actions. Connect dots and you see line.”