


President Donald Trump spoke with Fox News host Sean Hannity about unleashing American energy by prioritizing oil and gas production, boasting that the U.S. “could supply the whole world with energy for hundreds of years.”
The newly inaugurated president has already signed energy-focused executive orders, including one that declares a national energy emergency to ramp up domestic energy production.
“We have more oil and gas than any other country, and we’re going to have more,” Trump told Hannity in the second half of an interview that aired Thursday night. The first half aired Wednesday night.
The second Trump administration intends to unlock Alaska’s oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which former president Joe Biden restricted from oil and gas leases. ANWR, Trump said, “could be as big or bigger than Saudi Arabia,” one of many countries that the U.S. imports oil from.
The president went on to contrast the U.S. with China, which imports more oil and gas than it produces.
“It’s a great asset because China does not have that. They have to go out the old-fashioned way and buy it,” Trump said. “We’re going to become a wealthy country again — and energy is going to lead the way, but there will be other things too — tariffs.”
Trump threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese products, starting February 1. He is also looking to tariff the European Union, claiming “they treat us very, very badly,” and Russia if Vladimir Putin can’t reach a truce with Ukraine immediately.
As part of his energy agenda, the president reversed Biden’s green-energy policies, such as the mandate to make 50 percent of new cars electric by 2030 in an attempt to phase out gas-powered vehicles. He also targeted wind energy, both onshore and offshore, in an executive order.
During the Fox News interview, Trump said he prefers natural gas because it’s clean, powerful, and more consistent than wind and solar energy.
“We don’t want windmills in this country,” Trump said, noting they’re the “most expensive” type of energy.
“You know what else people don’t like? Those massive solar fields built over land that cover ten miles by ten miles. I mean, they’re ridiculous. By the way, do you know where the panels come from? They’re made in China.”
As he took office, Trump promised to usher in the “golden age of America” through sweeping executive actions that combat illegal immigration and roll back Biden’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.