The Next Court Defeat – How a Federal Judge Stopped Trump’s Wind Farm Sabotage

Donald Trump wanted to make a statement: offshore wind power should die long before it had the chance to change America. But it was precisely the judiciary, which he so often believed to have under control, that has now dealt him a painful setback. Case number 25-CV-2197-Lamberth, U.S. District Court Washington, D.C.: Judge Royce Lamberth ruled on Monday that the Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island and Connecticut may continue. A legal document, sober in its language, but politically a thunderclap for the president. Lamberth left no doubt that the stop of August 22 - imposed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management under nebulous "national security" concerns - stood on shaky legal ground. "There is no question in my mind of irreparable harm to the plaintiffs," the judge stated. The delay was costing 2.3 million dollars daily, more than 1,000 people were left with nothing, and the specialized ship needed for completion would not be available again until 2028 after December. A project that was 80 percent complete threatened to collapse under political calculation - until the judiciary intervened.

The plaintiffs, the Danish energy company Ørsted and its partner Skyborn Renewables, had no more time to lose. 5 billion dollars have already been spent or contractually bound, and more than 1 billion in additional costs loomed in the event of cancellation. Revolution Wind, the first large offshore wind project in the region, was intended to cover 2.5 percent of electricity demand - a milestone Trump wanted to destroy with the stroke of a pen. "A huge victory for workers and families," cheered Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. Democrat Joe Courtney also did not spare mockery: a project approved with the Pentagon’s involvement and 80 percent completed was "no security risk but a bulwark against unaffordable bills." Trump, on the other hand, is left empty-handed. He had bragged on the campaign trail that he would immediately end the offshore wind industry once he returned to the White House. Instead, he promoted oil, gas, and coal - cheap, dirty, deadly for the climate. His administration has revoked permits, cut billions, and blocked projects. But now it is clear: the courts no longer go along. Revolution Wind may continue.

For Trump, it is the second major defeat within just a few weeks. First he lost the case against the construction of the high-speed rail in California, now the setback at sea. The man who liked to misuse the judiciary as his personal stage is stumbling over judges who remember law and proportionality. And for the East Coast? A glimmer of hope. The Atlantic wind may continue to blow into turbines instead of suffocating in political dead ends. A court ruling, sober and factual - and yet a symbol that Trump’s crusade against the future will not go unanswered.