The Indicator from Planet Money
The Indicator from Planet Money

Why is Trump paying to stop wind farms?

August 10, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Why is Trump paying to stop wind farms?

President Trump has spent decades railing against wind farms. Back when he was building what he called "the world's greatest golf course" in Scotland, plans emerged for an offshore wind farm nearby. Trump was furious—mainly because he thought the turbines would ruin the view. That personal grievance has now become federal policy, but with an unusual twist. Instead of banning wind farms through executive orders or legislation, the Trump administration is simply writing checks. Billions of dollars in checks.

The latest casualty is a proposed offshore wind farm off North Carolina. Duke Energy, a U.S. utility company, agreed to a $129 million buyout from the White House to abandon its plans. That deal is part of a much larger pattern: the administration has committed more than $2.7 billion to buy out and cancel nine large offshore wind leases originally awarded under the Biden administration in 2022.

Why pay instead of ban?

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:01) **Setup: A Weird Government Tactic** - The hosts introduce a puzzle: instead of banning something the government doesn't want, the Trump administration is paying billions to stop it.
  • 2 (02:34) **Trump's Personal War on Wind** - The episode traces Trump's long-standing, personal opposition to wind turbines, rooted in a golf course dispute in Scotland.
  • 3 (04:06) **Failed Legal and Regulatory Attacks** - The administration tried standard tactics like executive orders and national security claims, but they were blocked by courts.
  • 4 (04:56) **The Workaround: Opening the Checkbook** - Unable to win in court, the administration found a new strategy: spending billions to buy out offshore wind leases.
  • 5 (05:36) **A Company's Pivot to Natural Gas** - The host explains that at least one company, TotalEnergies, is reinvesting its buyout money into fossil fuels.
  • 6 (06:06) **A Novel Form of Subsidizing Scarcity** - The hosts highlight how unprecedented it is for the U.S. government to pay companies to not develop energy projects.
  • 7 (06:46) **The Impact on a Nascent Industry** - The episode explains that this will have a "pretty big impact" on the development of offshore wind, which is still a nascent energy source in the U.S.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Severin Borenstein

Show Notes

President Trump is no fan of wind farms. And his administration is putting taxpayer money where his mouth is, paying companies billions of dollars to NOT build them. 

On today’s show, Trump’s plan to squelch wind farms with the public purse. 

Fact checking by Tyler Jones. 

Your Next Listen 
— Wind boom, wind bust (Two Windicators)

Connect with The Indicator
— Sign up for The Indicator’s brand new newsletter 
— Find our socials, YouTube and more!
— For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+

Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy
The Indicator from Planet Money

More from this podcast

The Indicator from Planet Money →