On December 22, 2025, the Trump administration’s Department of the Interior paused leases for five major offshore wind projects on the East Coast: Vineyard Wind 1 in Massachusetts, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind in New York, and Revolution Wind, which is located in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Secretary Doug Burgum cited national security risks from radar interference identified in classified Department of War reports, arguing that one natural gas pipeline equals their combined energy output. The New York Times called it a significant escalation in Trump’s opposition to wind power, potentially jeopardizing billions in investments and partial operations at Vineyard Wind.
Announcing the decision in a post to X, formerly Twitter, DOI Secretary Doug Burgum posted, “Due to national security concerns identified by @DeptofWar, @interior is PAUSING leases for 5 expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized offshore wind farms.”
Arguing his point, Burgum added more details, “ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED. President Trump is bringing common sense back to energy policy and putting security first.”
Liberals lost their minds at the common-sense position. For example, the New York Times described the pause in a hysterical and senseless manner, saying it was “a major escalation of President Trump’s crusade against offshore wind power.”
Providing more details, the DOI issued a comprehensive document. “The Department of the Interior announced today that it is pausing—effective immediately—the leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the United States due to national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports,” the report noted.
“This pause will give the Department, along with the Department of War and other relevant government agencies, time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects,” the DOI continued.
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Adding more context, Secretary Doug Burgum noted, “The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people. Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the 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.”
Additionally, the DOI press release reads, “As for the national security risks inherent to large-scale offshore wind projects, unclassified reports from the U.S. Government have long found that the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference called ‘clutter.'”
Explaining the issue at hand clearly, the same source described how, “The clutter caused by offshore wind projects obscures legitimate moving targets and generates false targets in the vicinity of the wind projects.”
“The Department of Energy in a 2024 report stated that a radar’s threshold for false alarm detection can be increased to reduce some clutter, but an increased detection threshold could cause the radar to “miss actual targets,” the report read.
Concluding, the document quipped, “Today’s action ensures that national security risks posed by offshore wind projects are appropriately addressed and that the United States government retains its ability to effectively defend the American people.”