L.A.'s liberal mayor has to work with Donald Trump to fix the city's traffic nightmare

This segment originally aired March 14, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.

While many politicians in California are actively opposing Trump, Los Angeles’ Measure M, the largest infrastructure program in the nation, is one area where the state and Trump overlap. And Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti is working hard to take advantage of that.

Measure M would double the size of the region’s rail network and increase funding for busses, bike lanes, and other projects to reduce traffic by getting people out of their cars. Last November, 71 percent of residents in Los Angeles voted for the Measure M transportation sales tax. The payoff for each residents’ tax dollars going up 25 dollars a year? Less time in traffic on Los Angeles freeways.

For Garcetti, the success of Measure M is a major win. But now the mayor has two conflicting mandates: Voters want him to be critical of President Trump, but Garcetti is also counting on Trump to make good on his $1 trillion infrastructure promise.

“It’s my responsibility to get things for our cities, no matter who is in office,” Garcetti told VICE News. On working with the Trump Administration, Garcetti said that while he may disagree with Trump on social values, immigration, and other issues, “when it comes to things like infrastructure, we gotta be Americans first and get the job done.”