U.S. President Donald Trump has renewed his pledge to stop invasive Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes, but officials say federal funding for the main project blocking their advance has been paused for months.
Invasive carp have been invading U.S. waterways for years, slowly expanding their habitat and outcompeting the local fish species they come across. The fish have been spreading northward for some time, and experts warn that if they do enter the Great Lakes, they could cause massive ecological damage to the region.
U.S. state and federal governments have introduced several initiatives to slow the species’ advance, but the main installation being built to stop them from entering the Great Lakes is the Brandon Road Interbasin Project. Located at a natural choke point, the project is made up of “a complex series of invasive carp and aquatic nuisance species deterrents” at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, U.S.A.
Though state governments and Congress have both supported the project, it has been stymied by inconsistency from the Trump administration. Federal infrastructure funding was paused by the Trump administration in early 2025, leading the Illinois state government to seek assurance from Trump that the funding would be released before buying the land needed for the project.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer went to the White House in April 2025 to intervene and secured Trump’s verbal support for the project, who subsequently issued a memo directing the federal government to prioritize efforts to stop invasive Asian carp.
“We’ve got to stop it now,” Trump said. “I assume, the lakes are all interconnected, right? So at some point they’re going to be in the other lakes, so we’re going to work hard on that.”
Seven months later, however, federal funding for the project was paused by the U.S. Army for administrative review. In response to the freeze, several lawmakers have called on the federal government to release the funding.
“Moving this project forward is critical to protecting the Great Lakes from invasive carp,” Michigan’s Congressional delegation said in a 15 January joint letter. “It has been thoroughly reviewed by Congress, the Army Corps of Engineers, and local partners, and its funding has been authorized and appropriated by Congress. The current review is unnecessary and could cause delays that put the Great Lakes’ ecosystem and fishing industry at risk.”
On 10 March, Whitmer again met with Trump in an attempt to secure his support for the project.
In a 10 March Truth Social post, Trump said he was working to stop the carp’s advance and asked area governors to “join into this fight.”
“I’m working with Governor Gretchen Whitmer on trying to save The Great Lakes from the rather violent and destructive Asian Carp, which is rapidly taking over Lake Michigan, and all of the beautiful surrounds,” Trump said. “This is on top of everything else I am doing. Only ‘TRUMP’ CAN DO IT!”
The governors of some of the states Trump asked to “join” are already heavily involved in the project and have been pressuring the Trump administration to release Congressionally-approved federal funding to complete it. Following Trump’s statement, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker accused Trump of distorting the truth about the project and breaking his promise to support it.
“The Great Lakes are a treasured international resource and the largest fresh water source in the world, and if the Trump Administration does not deliver needed federal funds, then they are betraying every American that relies on this water,” Pritzker said. “It is imperative that President Trump uphold his stated commitments to stop the invasive species threatening our Great Lakes and release the funds needed to resume construction on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project. Illinois has always done our part, and it is past time President Trump do his.”
In a speech on the Senate floor 11 March, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) called on Trump to lift the pause immediately to allow the project to move forward.
“The problem we have is the Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for building this facility. At the end of last year, the Trump Administration delayed the Brandon Road Interbasin Project for so-called ‘further review.’ The funding that was in place and was ready to be spent to protect the Great Lakes has been on hold. On January 15 of this year, I led a letter with Senator Duckworth, my colleague from Illinois, and the Michigan Senators, asking the Trump Administration to lift this review and pause so that we can get going forward with this project. We still have not received a response to that letter,” Durbin said.
