Politics

Trump will start infrastructure push in January, White House officials say

Key Points
  • President Donald Trump plans to move forward with a long-promised infrastructure plan in January, White House officials say.
  • Details could be released before the president's State of the Union address.
  • Infrastructure has so far taken a back seat to efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and overhaul the American tax code.
President Donald Trump
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The White House will move forward with a massive infrastructure program in 2018, after failing to enact such a measure in President Donald Trump's first year in office, according to officials.

Observers expect a proposal involving $200 billion in federal spending that is designed to spur as much as $800 billion in state, local and private sector spending.

White House officials said the details of the proposal could be released before Trump's State of the Union address. "We plan to have principles for the Hill in January," an official told CNBC on Thursday.

A promised revamp of roads, bridges and airports figured prominently in Trump's presidential campaign.

Under a unified Republican government this year, infrastructure has so far taken a backseat to efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and overhaul the American tax code. Democrats have cited infrastructure as an area in which they could potentially work with Trump.

It is unclear whether congressional Republicans would support the public funding needed for Trump's plan. They are also on the verge of passing a tax plan which would add an estimated $1 trillion or more to federal budget deficits over a decade.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and other congressional leaders have signaled they want to first turn their attention to entitlement reform next year after approving a tax bill before the end of this year.

Building materials stocks Martin Marietta Materials, Vulcan Materials and Eagle Materials all rose after an initial Bloomberg report about the infrastructure push.

WATCH: US Concrete CEO on infrastructure

US Concrete CEO says more than half of projects 'have nothing to do with infrastructure spend'
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US Concrete CEO says more than half of projects 'have nothing to do with infrastructure spend'