Trump said he vetoed a clean drinking water project because people are leaving Colorado “in droves.” It appears he’s relying on a single moving company’s statistics.
DENVER — President Donald Trump now says he nixed a clean drinking water project in Colorado because of his belief that people are leaving the state “in droves,” which is a highly-questionable claim.
Trump exercised his first veto of his second term to block a plan to finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a long-stalled project to bring clean water to rural parts of southeastern Colorado. The bill had passed both the House and Senate unanimously.
Trump restarted the pipeline project during his first term in office, but recently has promised “harsh measures” against Colorado for the state’s refusal to release his ally Tina Peters, who is serving a prison sentence for a scheme to tamper with voting systems.
Trump told Politico on Wednesday that his veto was tied to his view of Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis.
“They’re wasting a lot of money and people are leaving the state. They’re leaving the state in droves. Bad governor,” Trump told Politico.
Trump’s claim that Coloradans are leaving the state “in droves” appears to be based on a survey by a single moving company.
“California and Colorado are two of the TOP OUTBOUND STATES IN 2025 (United Van Lines!) – In other words, PEOPLE LEAVING!!!” Trump posted to Truth Social on Wednesday.
A survey by United Van Lines reported 661 more outbound moves than inbound moves from a sample size of 6,633 moves involving Colorado in 2025. That landed Colorado on United Van Lines’ list of top five states for “Highest Outbound Moves” behind New Jersey, New York, California and North Dakota.
Four other moving companies released similar studies of 2025 trends and none found a significant out-migration from Colorado.
Studies by U-Haul, Atlas Van Lines, North American Moving Services and Allied Van Lines found either a slight in-migration, slight out-migration or roughly even migration trends for Colorado in 2025.
Years of explosive population growth in Colorado have been slowing for the last decade, which has been widely reported.
But Trump’s claim that people are moving out of Colorado “in droves” is at odds with the most recently available government statistics, which are studied by Colorado’s state demographer.
“Colorado has, and is projected to continue to, grow faster than the rest of the United States,” said Colorado State Demographer Kate Watkins in a statement to 9NEWS in July 2025.
Despite the unanimous Congressional support for finishing the Arkansas Valley Conduit, it’s not clear if Republican leaders will risk Trump’s ire by allowing a veto override vote.
The pipeline would serve largely rural, heavily Republican areas between Pueblo and Lamar in southeastern Colorado. The area is represented by Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who slammed Trump’s veto.
Boebert told 9NEWS she supported other acts of retaliation against Colorado by Trump that impacted Democrat-majority areas like Denver and Boulder, but did not want to see her district’s citizens harmed.
“These are people who overwhelmingly voted for President Trump,” Boebert said. “These are not the people who should be attacked.”
