Trump Administration Pays $2B to Halt Wind Projects Amid Energy Crisis: A Look at the 'America First' Corporate Graveyard

(Photo illustration by The Bulwark / Photos: Getty, Shutterstock)

In the midst of an energy crisis, the Trump administration is paying companies to not build more energy infrastructure. You read that correctly.

The Trump administration is shelling out nearly $2 billion in exchange for agreements from developers to halt wind projects already in progress. These projects—wind farms off the coasts of New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and California—would have generated enough electricity to power roughly 3-4 million households once operational.

What pot of taxpayer money this payoff comes from, and whether the payoffs are even legal, remain open questions. Even lawmakers don’t know the answers. But these companies should probably count themselves lucky. They got paid to shut down, after all.

Renewable Energy Projects Canceled, Stalled Without Compensation

Dozens of other renewable energy projects around the country have not received the same windfall. Instead, they’ve been canceled, stalled, or quietly snuffed out—with zero compensation. The list includes:

• A gargantuan solar project in Nevada
• More than 150 wind developments nationwide

Collectively, these canceled projects could have powered around 15 million homes.

"Trump is getting away with murdering an American industry."

—Heatmap headline

Trump’s Economic Policies Leave a Trail of Corporate Casualties

Renewables are hardly Trump’s only victim. The president’s economic agenda has left a trail of destruction across industries, from intentional corporate executions to accidental collapses.

Intentional Corporate Executions

The administration’s deliberate halting of wind projects is just one example of what critics call a targeted assault on renewable energy.

Accidental Corporate Manslaughter

Other casualties look more like manslaughter: companies the president is killing by accident. Take Spirit Airlines, for example—a casualty of Trump’s economic policies.

Just over a year into his second term, the economic landscape is littered with victims mangled by Trump’s agenda. Corporate bankruptcies last year rose to their highest level in over a decade.

‘America First’ Corporate Graveyard: The Fallout

Join us for a stroll through the ‘America First’ Corporate Graveyard.

Farmers Bear the Brunt of Trump’s Policies

Trump often boasts about his support for farmers, but the data tells a different story. Farm bankruptcies rose 46 percent in 2025 from the prior year, and this year’s numbers are expected to be even worse—thanks in part to the Iran war.

Farmers have already lost core markets for staples like soybeans, as China stopped buying from America and turned instead to Brazil and Argentina. Now, U.S. farmers are absorbing higher costs for diesel, fertilizer, and other key inputs due to the war. Their margins are getting hammered from both sides.

Mass deportations and the cancellation of both domestic and foreign food aid programs have compounded the damage. Persistently high interest rates, necessitated in part by Trump’s inflationary policies, have weighed on farmers, too.

As with Spirit Airlines, Trump has attempted a bailout for farmers harmed by his own policies—euphemized as “unfair market disruptions.” So far, this hasn’t done much to staunch the bleeding.

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