The Trump administration has brought U.S. onshore wind development to a grinding halt, citing national security concerns - a move that represents a major escalation in the president's crusade against renewable energy. Approvals for about 165 onshore wind projects on private lands are being stalled by the Department of Defense, including wind farms awaiting final sign-off, others in the middle of negotiations, and some that typically wouldn't require oversight by the department, according to the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and people close to the matter.
Wind farms require routine approval from the Defense Department to ensure they don't interfere with radar systems. This normally involves assessing risk and having the developer pay for the army to update its radar filter system so it can locate the windmill. Some projects can be deemed risk-free due to their distance from army facilities and flight paths. These assessments can take as little as a few days - unless, apparently, you're the Trump administration, in which case they take forever and involve canceled meetings and silent treatment.
Since August 2025, developers have faced a mix of setbacks: not receiving expected communications from DoD, having meetings canceled without the opportunity to reschedule, and being informed that the department has stopped processing their applications. The affected projects include 35 that had completed negotiations and were awaiting sign-off - first reported by Axios in March. More projects are now facing shutdown: 30 that had undergone negotiations and received verbal signoffs but waited for written confirmation, about 50 in the process of negotiations, and 50 that previously would likely have been declared risk-free. These wind farms could generate 30 gigawatts - enough to power 15 million homes, but apparently not enough to overcome the president's personal vendetta.
Letters sent to developers in early April said the agency was reviewing its processes for evaluating energy projects' impact on national security. The moves represent a dramatic escalation of the administration's effort to shut down wind energy in the U.S., reaching for developments on private lands as well as public ones. President Donald Trump has called wind farms the “worst form of energy” and said his “goal is to not let any windmill be built.” Since its second term, the administration has repeatedly tried to shut down offshore wind sites citing national security concerns, as well as other renewable projects on federal lands - though federal courts have thwarted some of these actions.
“This is so unprecedented,” said Jason Grumet, chief executive of the ACP. “The fact the administration is telling private landowners they’re not allowed to pursue economic activity and generate value from their property is hard to reconcile with conservative values.” The administration has recently started refunding offshore wind leases in exchange for investments in fossil fuels, such as a $1 billion deal with TotalEnergies in March. “The Trump administration’s attempts to block wind projects keep getting struck down in court, so it’s reaching for ever more extreme and absurd methods,” said Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at NRDC. The DoD did not respond to a request for comment - presumably too busy reviewing radar filters.