* Axios earlier this month…

[President Donald Trump] in May signed a memorandum offering his support to Michigan and Illinois for a $1 billion effort aimed at preventing invasive Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. […]

White House officials say they haven’t received the same cooperation from Pritzker or his team. They say their calls to Pritzker haven’t been returned. […]

Pritzker spokesperson Matt Hill vehemently denied that the governor has been MIA on the subject.

Hill noted that Pritzker on July 24 hosted officials from Michigan and the Army Corps of Engineers at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet to discuss the project. Hill said attendees “shared positive updates on the progress we are making to protect the Great Lakes.”

“If Trump wants to try lying to play political blame games he can, but Illinois will focus on delivering results,” Hill said. “If the White House needs an update on the project, we welcome their outreach but have not received any to date.”

* Trump took another shot at Gov. Pritzker over the invasive carp during a Monday news conference. The Daily Beast…

Donald Trump’s newest line of attack in his war with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker smells a bit fishy. […]

Speaking about the nationwide carp issue from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump tossed out the line, “I didn’t get a request from the governor of Illinois. Until I get that request from that guy (Pritzker), I’m not going to do anything about it.”

Trump was angling at the $1.15 billion Brandon Road Lock and Dam fix in Joliet—a project meant to keep silver and bighead carp from swimming upstream into Lake Michigan. Phase One started in May, with the feds covering about 90 percent of the construction, and Michigan and Illinois chipping in bait-sized state shares of $64 million and $50 million.

And while Trump has been freezing pots of cash across agencies like a cold snap, the Government Accountability Office and Democrats on Senate appropriations say that kind of “keep it on the dock” routine runs afoul of the Impoundment Control Act.

The president calls that law unconstitutional and vows to have it struck down in court—but he hasn’t filed the test case.

* Trump’s full remark…

Trump: You know, I did a favor for Kristi—for Kristi Whitman, Whitburn (Referring to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer) —a good favor, I think, with the fish, the carp, the China carp. Did you ever hear of it? China carp. And it’s taken over your Great Lakes, you know about that, right? And she came and she wanted to know if it’s possible for us to do something about it, and I said, well, I’ll do it, but I think it’s appropriate that the person from Illinois, the governor from Illinois, asks also. It’s a tremendously expensive project, actually. It’s invasive, it’s horrible what’s happened. And we can do it with GSA and various people, but we can do it. We’re gonna just have to see what happens, OK? We’re going to have to see.

Reporter: But you have the legal authority-

Trump: The governor of Michigan came, was very respectful, asked for it. She’s done a good job. […] I opened the Air Force base—you know, kept it open—for F-35s and various planes, F-22s too. I did that for the state of Michigan at her request. And also for our congressman—you know, we have congressmen that are unbelievably pro-Michigan up there. But some of this stuff, like the lakes, the Great Lakes—this is a big problem that nobody ever talks about, most of you probably have never heard of. We have a very, pretty violent fish that comes from China. China carp, Chinese carp. And you see them jumping out—they jump into boats, and they jump all over the place. They’ve got a lot of energy. And there’s a way of getting rid of them. It’s very expensive. And I didn’t get a request from the governor of Illinois, who is affected maybe more than anybody else, right? And I think, until I get that request from that guy, I’m not going to do anything about it.

* The Tribune…

In an emailed statement to the Tribune, Gov. JB Pritzker spokesperson Matt Hill cautioned against taking the statements “at face value,” he said, “as many are lies.” The state hosted partners at the project site July 24, Hill said, including high-ranking Trump administration officials from the Army Corps and state officials from Michigan.

“With Illinois leading the way, partners shared positive updates on the progress we are making to protect the Great Lakes. Illinois has done its part for more than a decade, and Governor Pritzker has pressed for even more progress for the past six years of his tenure,” Hill said. “While Trump lies to play political blame games, Illinois will focus on delivering results. If the White House needs an update on the project, we welcome their outreach but have not received any to date.”

Mistrust between Pritzker and Trump already delayed construction earlier this year. In February, a groundbreaking ceremony was canceled as the state postponed a property closing on the land, anticipating a future lack of federal funding after the administration withheld grants for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, halting 70 unrelated projects across the state.

While federal funds had been approved for phase one of the project, state officials had expressed concerns about proceeding without assurances from the administration that funding critical for the next two phases, as well as the operation and maintenance costs, wouldn’t be held back and leave Illinois taxpayers “on the hook.”

Thoughts?