WASHINGTON, DC–A few weeks ago, President Donald Trump told lawmakers he had changed his mind about the structure of his $1-trillion infrastructure investment plan. Previously the plan was contingent on private sector participation; now, President Trump reportedly said, he didn't want to take that route. The reason? Certain partnerships between the private sector and federal government just don't work.
GlobeSt.com spoke with a number of experts in this area and the consensus is this: the president is correct — at best, the reviews are mixed for public-private partnerships for infrastructure projects in which the federal government takes the lead. Instead, most experts agreed P3 projects work best with the state or local jurisdiction heading the project.
In a sense it's positive that Trump is backing off from P3s, says Kent Rowey, a partner at Allen & Overy who specializes in infrastructure transactions. “The plan was a distraction, and now state and city government continue innovating with the private sector for infrastructure solutions away from the politics and drama that often accompany this administration's initiatives,” he tells GlobeSt.com.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
