Despite his struggles with the courts, U.S. President Donald Trump is continuing his push to block offshore wind power development with all the tools at his disposal – including buying out the developers.
Trump has made blocking offshore wind projects a priority during his second term, immediately issuing an executive order pausing federal approval of wind projects on the Outer Continental Shelf after resuming office in January 2025. He followed up that order by issuing stop work orders for two of the larger wind farms developments on the East Coast, although those orders were ultimately rescinded.
Trump has received support for the move by many in the commercial fishing sector, who claim that offshore wind farms block them from accessing valuable fishing areas and otherwise disrupt those fisheries.
However, the president was sued over his executive order, and it was ultimately struck down by a federal judge in December 2025, with the court deeming Trump’s action unlawful.
“In addition to being arbitrary and capricious, the Wind Order must be set aside on the independent basis that it is contrary to law,” Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said in her ruling.
Undeterred, the Trump administration put a new freeze on offshore wind power development in place just weeks later, this time arguing that it was necessary for national security reasons. Five East Coast offshore projects were halted: Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, CVOW – Commercial, Sunrise Wind, and Empire Wind 1.
“The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a release. “Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of relevant adversary technologies and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our East Coast population centers. The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.”
The courts have been skeptical of the administration’s new claims, and they have allowed wind power development to continue on those projects over multiple rulings.
With outright bans on offshore wind farms proving ineffective, the Trump administration has moved on to a new tactic – buying off developers and convincing them to invest in fossil fuel projects instead.
On 27 April, the Department of the Interior announced that it has reached deals with two wind energy developers: Bluepoint Wind, which was building an offshore wind farm off the coast of New Jersey and New York; and Golden State Wind, which was building an offshore wind farm off the coast of California.
“President Trump is focused on providing affordable and reliable energy to American citizens,” Burgum said. “The companies that bid for these offshore wind leases were basically sold a product in 2022 that was only viable when propped up by massive taxpayer subsidies. Now that hardworking Americans are no longer footing the bill for expensive, unreliable, intermittent energy projects, companies are once again investing in affordable, reliable, secure energy infrastructure. We welcome each of the projects’ willingness to actually support baseload power and lower utility bills for American families. In addition, the agreements resolve the unaddressed national security concerns at both projects.”
Under the deals, both developers have agreed to cancel their projects, not pursue any offshore wind projects in the U.S., and instead invest in fossil fuel energy projects. Once those investments are made, the federal government will reimburse the companies for their offshore wind leases.
“We appreciate the very constructive engagement with Secretary Burgum and the Department of the Interior and are pleased to have reached a practical resolution based on our shared commitment to pragmatic outcomes. We look forward to continuing to deploy capital into conventional and other energy sources in furtherance of the twin goals of increasing US energy independence and affordable energy,” Salim Samaha, chair of Midstream & LNG and part of the ownership group of Bluepoint Wind, said in a statement.
The announcement was quickly welcomed by the New England Fishermen's Stewardship Association (NEFSA).
“NEFSA is grateful that President Trump and his administration are taking strong steps to protect our oceans and push back on harmful offshore wind projects. Offshore wind threatens our economy, our fisheries, and our national defense and security,” NEFSA President Aaron Williams said in a statement. “For too long, these unreliable projects have put the livelihoods of hardworking American fishermen at risk. IT’s good to see a president putting fishermen first, instead of catering to environmentalist scams or foreign-government owned energy corporations.”
The deals with Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind follow a similar agreement with TotalEnergies, a French company developing wind farms off the coast of New Jersey and North Carolina. That deal also saw the company reimbursed for abandoning its leases on the condition that it reinvest in fossil fuel projects.
