Trump Says U.S. Will Not Approve Solar or Wind Power Projects While He’s in Office
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration will no longer approve solar or wind power projects, even as electricity demand continues to strain supply in parts of the U.S.
“We will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!”
The comments follow the administration’s recent move to tighten federal permitting for renewable energy projects, now centralized under Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Renewable energy developers fear the shift could stall projects that previously received routine approval, and Trump’s statement on Wednesday only deepens those worries.
The president has blamed renewable energy for contributing to higher electricity costs. Prices on the nation’s largest grid, PJM Interconnection, have been climbing as soaring demand from data centers and heavy industry collides with a shrinking supply, largely due to the retirement of coal-fired plants.
In PJM’s most recent capacity auction, prices for new power jumped 22% compared to last year. PJM manages the grid across 13 states in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and parts of the South.
Yet, according to data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, solar and battery storage are the resources best positioned to close the supply-demand gap quickly, since they make up the majority of queued projects waiting to connect to the grid.
Since taking office, Trump has pursued an aggressive rollback of renewable support. His One Big Beautiful Bill Act phases out investment and production tax credits for wind and solar by 2027—credits that have been critical in driving the U.S. renewable energy boom.
On top of that, Trump’s tariffs on steel and copper have further increased costs for wind and solar projects, according to industry groups.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday it would no longer back solar development on farmland, marking yet another blow to the sector.
Wind and solar are not baseload electricity generation never will be, baseload is defined as 24/7, 365, wind and solar can never be baseload, just a bandaid.