SECAUCUS, N.J. – Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill is spotlighting the political hand grenade President Donald Trump exploded smack in the middle of New Jersey’s competitive and combative race for governor.

With less than three weeks until Election Day, the president rocked the campaign trail in one of only two gubernatorial showdowns in the nation this year, as he “terminated” billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York.

Sherrill, holding a news conference Thursday at a major commuter rail station just a few miles from the site of the tunnels in one of the busiest train corridors in the nation, called the project “critical” as she took aim at Trump and her Republican rival, GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli.

“It’s critical to the economy of the United States. But it’s also critical to the men and women who commute every single day, because without these improvements, it means continuing to miss dinner, to miss soccer games, to not be able to coach teams, to not get time with your family.”

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Sherrill, spotlighting the significance of Trump’s move, added that “this tunnel project can be responsible for almost 100,000 jobs in the region. That’s what’s at stake. If we see delays in this, it’s $1 million a day we’ll be paying.”

And taking aim at Ciattarelli, who has the president’s backing in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, Sherrill reiterated, “I’m fighting for the people of New Jersey. He’s fighting to excuse Trump. It’s unacceptable.”

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The future of the Gateway Project has been in the spotlight in the showdown between Sherrill and Ciattarelli since the Trump administration, hours into the federal government shutdown, announced the freezing of billions of dollars for the tunnel, as well as for the extension of New York City’s Second Avenue Subway.

But Trump turned up the heat on Wednesday, with the surprise announcement on Wednesday, as he and congressional Republicans continue to blame Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, for the government shutdown.

“The project in New York, it’s billions and billions of dollars that Schumer has worked 20 years to get. It’s terminated,” Trump told reporters.

Ciattarelli, taking to social media a couple of hours later, said, “New Jersey needs Governor who has the standing to work with, and when necessary disagree with, the President and advocate for New Jersey’s fair share of federal tax dollars — including the Gateway Tunnel. This is a critical infrastructure project and I will fight to get it done.”

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor in New Jersey, is interviewed by Fox News Digital on Oct. 15, 2025, in Bayonne, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News )

Asked by Fox News Digital at her news conference if she took Ciattarelli at his word, Sherrill said, “I mean, that’s rich, right? Because here’s somebody who’s tried to excuse it in every turn. Not till I’ve held him accountable and his back’s basically to the wall that he gives this kind of milquetoast, ‘Oh, yeah. I’ll fight for it.’ In what way? In what way is he going to fight for it? He’s not here today. He’s not pledging it in front of the trade union.”

“I find it really interesting that the only time he fights for the people of New Jersey is when his back to the law and I hold him accountable,” she added.

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While Trump isn’t on the ballot, he’s loomed large over the New Jersey gubernatorial election.

At last week’s second and final debate, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had “shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being that.”

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, right, and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, on the stage moments at the start of their second and final debate, on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)

Asked whether he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was “part of a New Jersey movement.”

When asked to grade the president’s performance so far during his second term, Ciattarelli said, “I’d certainly give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything that he’s doing.”

“I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli’s supporting. I give him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey’s high cost of living.

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While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past ten elections.

And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by only 6 percentage points, an improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier.

Sherrill’s news conference came the day after multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump will hold tele-rallies with Ciattarelli. 

In what’s expected to be a low-turnout election, Trump’s backing could prove crucial for Ciattarelli, who’s making his third run for governor after narrowly losing to Murphy four years ago.

“There’s obviously a whole lot of people across the state of New Jersey that are pleased with the job the president’s doing,” Ciattarelli said Wednesday in a Fox News Digital interview.

Pointing to the president’s push to temporarily halt wind farms off the Jersey Shore, his vow to kill New York’s congestion pricing, tax cuts, deductions, and credits in the GOP’s massive domestic policy measure, and his efforts to secure the nation’s southern border, Ciattarelli said that people “are very pleased with the president, what he’s done for New Jersey.”

Trump endorsed Ciattarelli earlier this year in the GOP gubernatorial nomination race. And the president headlined a tele-rally for Ciattarelli ahead of the June primary.