President Donald Trump is once again back with his crusade against wind power. However, this time, his reasons are all wrong. His recent claims at the full cabinet on Tuesday ranged from misleading to completely outlandish. Trump called wind and solar energy a “blight on our country” before proceeding to justify his stance against it.
In a nearly five-minute-long rant filled with false claims, he said that wind and solar power are “very expensive.” He then added that the energy is causing birds to die “all over the place,” before suggesting that it was also responsible for the death of dozens of whales. His outlandish claims didn’t stop there as the Republican leader then raged that windmills are “stupid” and “ugly.”
“It’s a horrible, horrible thing for our country,” said Donald Trump before claiming that “smart countries” don’t use wind power. His statement came after he signed an executive order on Monday directing federal agencies to strengthen provisions in the “Big Beautiful bill” that modify tax credits for solar and wind energy projects.
However, most of his claims are false or, at the very least misleading. While he claims that “wind is a very expensive form of energy,” it is actually one of the cheapest sources of electricity generation. According to the AP News, new wind power installations are expected to produce energy around $30 per megawatt hour, while a new natural gas plant would cost $65 per megawatt hour. A new advanced nuclear reactor would cost even more, as it runs over $80 for the same.
Even without tax credits, onshore wind farms are less costly to build and operate when compared to natural gas plants in most places in America. However, as estimated by EIA, offshore wind is one of the most expensive power generation sources, as it runs over $88 per megawatt hour.
Trump: “Windmills, and the rest of this ‘JUNK,’ are the most expensive and inefficient energy in the world.”
Fact check: False. Wind power is actually one of the cheapest and cleanest energy sources on Earth. pic.twitter.com/kXJSDhWT03
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) June 21, 2025
Trump also claimed that wind turbines are “almost exclusively” made in China. While this is not a completely false statement, given the Asian country is actually the largest manufacturer of wind turbines in the world. However, Donald Trump claimed that President Xi Jinping told him, “He makes them, but they don’t have a lot of wind farms, I’ll tell you that.” A detailed fact-check reveals that China is deploying the turbines at a great speed in various regions, boasting 1.3 terawatts of utility-scale wind and solar projects upcoming. Though gas and coal are still on the rise in the country, China has been focusing on offshore wind development simultaneously.
This brings us to his next statement that “smart countries” don’t use wind power. As per EIA, in 2024, countries like China, Brazil, India, Germany, and the US have the top five markets for wind power.
Slingshot News: After signing his “one big beautiful bill,” Trump went off on a tirade demeaning renewable energy sources like wind: “I have never seen a wind farm in China.”
A simple internet search shows that China is the global leader in wind energy.#TrumpisUnfitForOffice pic.twitter.com/Qpqfmt59gb
— LA Blue Dot in GA 🌊💔 (@namwella1961) July 5, 2025
“In New England, for 50 years, they had two whales washed up. And last summer, they had 14 washed up. Now, I’m not saying that’s the wind farm that was built, but maybe it is. Probably is,” the Republican leader claimed. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, however, there’s no proven connection between the whale deaths and offshore wind development.
Now, while wind turbines sure pose some risk of bird fatalities, climate change is more hazardous for our avian friends, as believed by the National Audubon Society.
