Trump’s Clean Energy Dilemma

Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in 2025, he has launched a full-scale attack on renewable energy, repeating the “climate hoax” accusation many times. The attacks on wind turbines became particularly loud. However, what this really means is not the end of clean energy, but new winners and losers in Trump’s energy economy, with China’s global domination of the renewable industries looming large.

Hydrocarbons Are Winning, But What Else?

It is no surprise that the biggest winners in Trump’s energy economy are domestic oil and gas companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. In 2025, the federal government granted 55 percent more oil and gas drilling permits on public lands. In 2025, Trump’s Bureau of Land Management approved 5,742 permits to drill for oil and gas, compared to 3,696 in 2024 under Biden’s administration.

With global LNG demand on track to rise by 50% by 2040, Trump’s agenda is setting up companies like Cheniere Energy Inc., Sempra, and Energy Transfer LP to become global gas superpowers.

Rare earth mining companies also stand to benefit from Trump’s focus on American energy independence. For example, in 2025, the United States Department of Defense became MP Material’s largest shareholder as part of a partnership aimed at creating an independent U.S. rare-earth magnet supply chain. As rare earths are used across several industries, including renewable power generation, this is a win for green energy.

Another unexpected winner is nuclear energy, suggesting a more complicated clean-energy reality following Trump’s war on wind at last month’s World Economic Forum. The President’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program chose 11 companies to help advance nuclear power in the U.S. last year. The Department of Energy also announced partnerships and funding for next-generation uranium-enrichment technology companies, uranium supply chains, and High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium transportation projects.

Losers Are Down but Not Out

Unsurprisingly, the biggest losers in Trump’s energy economy are renewable energy companies like Enphase Energy Inc., which provides residential and commercial solar-plus-storage.

After the Trump Administration revoked 321 clean energy grants, a number of U.S. clean energy companies lost millions of dollars in federal funding, with offshore wind companies hit particularly hard. The Department of Energy press release announcing the cuts stated: “Following a thorough, individualized financial review, DOE determined that these projects did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.” Further, the release quoted Secretary of Energy Chris Wright as saying that many of the awards had been “rushed through in the final months of the Biden administration with inadequate documentation by any reasonable business standard.” At the time the cuts were announced in October 2025, some of the affected companies indicated they had not received any communication from the Department of Energy about the status of the grants, while others noted they had already spent the funds awarded. Following a lawsuit by a coalition of energy and environmental groups, a limited court decision reversed the DOE’s withdrawal of $27.6 million last month. Other appeals are ongoing, but at least for now, the vast majority of the award cancellations remain in effect.

Only two solar energy projects were approved during the first Trump Administration and the second term to date. The first was the Gemini Solar Project, approved in 2020 and now operational. This $1 billion, 690-megawatt project near Las Vegas was led by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., through its subsidiary, NV Energy. The second project, approved in May 2025, is Elisabeth Solar Project in Yuma County, Arizona. Other projects are reportedly under review, but approvals have been slow in coming.

The slogan “Drill Baby Drill” is certainly a flashy way for the current administration to distinguish itself from Biden’s ambitious and expensive climate agenda. However, the question remains: what about those two solar projects stood out to the White House, amidst hundreds of proposals? Whether their actions are driven by pressure from powerful renewable energy interests, a strategic bid to maintain U.S. dominance in next-generation technologies, or a quiet acknowledgment of economic and geopolitical realities is unclear.

The most important, however, is that clean energy isn’t dead, but the Administration is picking winners. Renewable industry companies need to adapt to the more demanding environment of the Trump Administration and learn new survival skills in the regulatory and financial jungle. Survival of the fittest was, is, and will be the law of corporate evolution – just as it is in the wild. Meanwhile, the global energy picture keeps changing. A clear example of this is the ranking of the Gemini Solar Project. At the time of its approval during Trump I, it was set to be the world’s eighth-largest such plant. Though it is now operating, in 2025, it didn’t even make the top 15. As reported by SolarTech and the EcoExperts, which utilize somewhat different criteria to determine their rankings, China dominates this space, with India and the UAE as UAEup-and-coming players, while solar installation costs have dropped significantly since 2010.

Traditional Energy Dominance or Market Control.

More than a year has passed since the start of President Trump’s second term in office. Energy policies and strategies are among the areas that have changed significantly compared to the previous administration. Consumers—and Republican politicians—definitely like cheaper gas.

By pursuing “American energy dominance” through maximizing domestic production of traditional energy sources like oil, natural gas, and even coal, Trump is utilizing executive power and regulatory strategies to support enterprises in the traditional energy sector. The administration’s emphasis on nuclear expansion will mean lower emissions, which climate and clean air enthusiasts should value and support. At the same time, funding reductions and a lack of executive branch communication regarding renewable energy projects are among the challenges facing the clean energy sector. Attention to traditional energy has mainly taken the form of support for major companies, indicating that the administration is steering of market and attempting to control it.

Nevertheless, clean energy cannot be fully eliminated, nor should it be, as long as it makes economic and technological sense, as a solar park in Nevada does. There may be more. The expanses of the sun-drenched U.S. South-West, for example, can provide gigawatts of solar energy.

Three More Years?

Trump’s energy policy uses the sector for geopolitical goals and as a tool of national strategy, as a means of security, and a demonstration of independence. The administration has reinforced energy as a strategic and economic asset, which, in the short term, has strengthened the U.S.’s leverage in energy markets, including import offsets and reductions, and foreign trade balance-sheet calculus.

However, as clean energy continues to gain global traction and attract investment worldwide, de-emphasizing the sector may not be in America’s interests long-term. China is steaming ahead to become the world’s dominant renewable energy power, including solar, wind, EVs, and nuclear reactors.

With nearly three years remaining in his second term, President Trump’s energy agenda and potential shifts in strategy warrant continual updating and re-evaluation, as the U.S. could lose the global renewables market to Chinese competition. An over-reliance on domestic fossil fuel production threatens to leave America at a competitive disadvantage as the global transition toward clean energy accelerates.