PRESIDENT TRUMP ON OVERREGULATION: “They spent $29 million for an environmental report weighing 70 lbs. and costing $24,000 per page. I said, do me a favor, I’m going to make a speech in a little while, do you mind if I take that and show it? So I’m going to show it.”

The president then walked away from the podium and flipped through the pages of the binder, then let each one hit the ground with a thud.

With Trump’s speech, the White House’s so-called “infrastructure week” came to an end Friday. The effort was meant to highlight the need to speed up the permitting process before roads, bridges, ports and tracks across the country can be built.

“It took only four years to build the Golden Gate Bridge and five years to build the Hoover Dam and less than one year to build the Empire State building…but today it can take 10 years just to get the approvals and permits needed to build a major infrastructure project,” Trump said.

On Monday, the White House kicked off a weeklong focus on infrastructure, announcing a series of events and speeches where the president would draw attention to the issue his advisers say they hope can be tackled this year.

“We have structurally deficient bridges, clogged roads, crumbling dams and rocks, our rivers are in trouble, our railways are aging and chronic traffic that slows commerce and diminishes our citizens quality of life,” Trump said Friday. “Other than that, we are doing very well.”

Read more: WE

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