The directive comes as the administration expands offshore oil and gas production.
Published December 22, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration suspended leasing on five large offshore wind projects, citing national security concerns, and offshore wind company stocks plummeted.
Monday’s cancellation of the Atlantic Coast project, which was already under construction, was the latest blow to offshore wind developers, which have faced repeated turmoil under the Trump administration.
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The US president said he finds wind turbines ugly, expensive and inefficient while pursuing a greater shift away from renewable energy.
Shares in Danish energy company Orsted, which owns two of the affected projects, were down more than 12% by late morning, with other companies including Dominion and Equinor also falling.
The U.S. Department of the Interior said the Pentagon had raised concerns that the movement of the offshore wind project’s giant turbine blades and the highly reflective towers that support them could cause radar interference, making it difficult for the military to identify and locate threats.
“The United States government’s first duty is to protect the American people,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
The moratorium will allow relevant federal agencies “time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the potential to reduce the national security risks posed by these projects,” the department said.
The outage will affect Orsted’s Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects, Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ Vineyard Wind 1 project, Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia offshore wind farm, and Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 project, the department said.
The National Ocean Industry Association (NOIA), the trade group representing offshore wind developers, called on the government to end the moratorium quickly.
“The regulatory process includes a rigorous framework for assessing the national security impacts of proposed projects, and all projects under construction have already been reviewed by the Department of Defense, with no objections,” said NOIA President Eric Milito.
Orsted, Equinor and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners could not immediately be reached for comment.
Dominion said the outages threaten the reliability of its power grid for customers in Virginia, including military bases and data centers that power artificial intelligence.
“These electrons will power data centers that build the nuclear warships needed to win the AI race, support warfighters, and maintain maritime supremacy,” the company said in a statement.
Anti-wind stance
Monday’s action was the latest in which the government has ordered a moratorium on offshore wind projects already under construction.
In August, the administration ordered Orsted to halt construction of the Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island, but a federal judge later lifted the ban.
Earlier this year, the administration reached a compromise with New York state that lifted a stop-work order on Equinor’s Empire Wind, paving the way for construction of a natural gas pipeline backed by President Trump.
Trump campaigned for the White House on a promise to eliminate the offshore wind industry, saying “windmills” are too expensive and harm whales and birds. Instead, he pushed for oil and gas drilling.
Uncertainty is hurting developers financially. Orsted raised $9.4 billion to fund the U.S. project earlier this year after potential partners were thwarted by President Trump’s approach.
