Trump pledges to start six-lane I-65 project in Alabama on ‘first day’ if he wins in 2024

Donald Trump promised to immediately get to work on making I-65 six lanes from Huntsville to Mobile if he wins the 2024 election, the former president told the Alabama Republican Party’s Summer Dinner on Friday.

“One of the first things that I will do to help the great people of Alabama is to approve a six-lane I-65 from Huntsville to Mobile,” Trump said during his keynote speech at the dinner at the Renaissance Hotel in Montgomery.

Trump said the six Republicans in Alabama’s congressional delegation, who earlier on Friday endorsed the former president’s 2024 campaign, suggested the project was a priority.

“I said, ‘What can I do for this great state?” Trump told the crowd before.

“You can make a six-laner,” Trump said the delegation told him.

“Can everyone agree that’s a big deal?” the former president asked the crowd to applause. “OK, we’ll do that first day.”

The project is also championed by Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, a potential 2026 governor’s candidate. He has raised concerns before over what he said is a lack of prioritizing a widening of I-65 from the Tennessee state line to Mobile. The most recent example came in May, when he said widening I-65 “must be a top priority” for Alabama officials.

While most of Trump’s speech touched on his 2024 campaign and three indictments, he briefly spoke on another Alabama-centric issue: U.S. Space Command, “which Biden just moved the hell out of your state.”

Trump noted that his administration decided to make Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal the permanent headquarters for Space Command — a decision reversed by the Biden administration earlier this week.

Biden announced that the command would remain in Colorado, where it is currently headquartered on a temporary basis.

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, started a House investigation into the decision.

Like Rogers, Trump hinted that the Space Command saga may not be complete.

“But maybe that won’t be the end of that story,” he said.