— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017 I reached out to the US Department of Transportation to see if they were involved in the conversation Musk mentions and was referred to the White House, where a spokesperson had this to say: "We have had promising conversations to date, are committed to transformative infrastructure projects, and believe our greatest solutions have often come from the ingenuity and drive of the private sector." Sadly for those of us who salivate over the future Musk promises, especially when it comes to much needed updates to public transportation, the reasons for skepticism here swamp that optimism before it has a chance to bloom. Despite the supportive words from the White House, the government is not a single human being that can speak with one voice who could physically give "verbal" approval. A Hyperloop route with stops in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington would surely require numerous approvals, or at least tons of coordination, from different governments and their agencies at the federal, state and local levels. (Here's a running list of comments from public agencies so far). In fact, the only explanation in which I can take Musk's tweet literally is a scenario where the federal government claims all the necessary subsurface and surface rights along the proposed Hyperloop route through eminent domain. This would be an expensive (and insanely controversial) proposition as the US Constitution requires fairly compensating anyone whose land is taken via such a process. Musk has tweeted in the past about "promising conversations" regarding his tunneling ambitions with government officials, but this is the first time he's claimed to have done an invisible deal with one. Promising conversations with @MayorOfLA regarding tunnel network that would carry cars, bikes & pedestrians. Permits harder than technology. https://t.co/0dxrXBOOWy