WASHINGTON \u2014 The US Interior Department announced Monday that it was immediately pausing leases for five offshore wind farms \u2014 including two in New York \u2014\u00a0 \u201cdue to national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports.\u201d<\/p>\n
The renewable energy projects included the Massachusetts and\u00a0Rhode Island-headquartered Vineyard Wind 1<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Revolution Wind, a commercial wind farm in Virginia and New York\u2019s Sunrise Wind and\u00a0Empire Wind \u2014 several of which had gotten either funding or regulatory boosts from the Biden administration.<\/p>\n Unclassified reports have previously cited radar interference, also known as \u201cclutter,\u201d prompting false alarms due to \u201cthe movement of massive turbine<\/a>\u00a0blades and the highly reflective towers\u201d of the wind farms,\u201d the Interior Department noted in a press release.<\/p>\n The projects were scrapped due to unspecified national security risks. Empire Wind \/ Vestas Wind Systems A\/S<\/p>\n Trump speaks before delivering remarks at Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania on Dec. 9, 2025. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n In some cases, radar would also \u201cmiss actual targets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe prime duty of the United States government is to\u00a0protect the American people<\/a>,\u201d Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), whose\u00a0brothers are both pilots, told The\u00a0Post Monday that has been advocating against the offshore wind farms for years based on their potential to disrupt both aircraft and ships\u2019 radar \u2014 for both civilians and military service members.<\/p>\n \u201cCamp Evans is located in my district, and that\u2019s where the radars were created for World War II,\u201d he explained, \u201cand we knew before the [Mitsubishi A6M] Zeros hit Pearl Harbor about 40 plus minutes before, that they were coming because of the radars they deployed there, and they really made a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is something that Xi Jinping just loves. Iranians just love, and Putin just loves because we\u2019re blinding ourselves willfully \u2014 for what?\u201d<\/p>\n Trump speaks at the White House on Dec. 17, 2025. AP<\/p>\n Those concerns were confirmed in\u00a0an April 2025 Government Accountability Office report<\/a>\u00a0that found the turbines \u2014 some as large as the Chrysler building \u2014 \u201ccan reduce the performance of radar systems used for defense and maritime navigation and safety in several ways.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese include reducing detection sensitivity, obscuring potential targets, and generating false targets, according to a DOE report,\u201d GAO stated. \u201cIn addition, offshore wind energy development may affect larger military exercises by obstructing flight and surface and subsurface vessel movement, according to DOD officials.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith also noted potential hindrances to roughly 1,000 US Coast Guard rescues annually \u2014 or the ability\u00a0to intercept foreign drones<\/a>, some lawmakers and experts speculated, that\u00a0vexed the Biden administration<\/a>\u00a0in December 2024.<\/p>\n Huge disruptions could also result like what air passengers saw earlier this year when a frayed piece of copper wiring\u00a0caused a radar outage at Newark airport<\/a>, forcing delays and cancellations of flights, he added.<\/p>\n The Biden administration\u2019s response, Smith claimed, was instead: \u201cBuild it and who gives a damn about national security and, you know, security of the people when they\u2019re flying out of Newark or you name the place.\u201d<\/p>\n Roughly a third of all construction costs for the wind farms has been borne by US taxpayers, according to Smith.<\/p>\n But that doesn\u2019t begin to include the costs of clean-up efforts when a powerful hurricane hits the wind farms.<\/p>\n Burgum informed the congressman that there\u2019s concerns about the football field-size propellers being decommissioned for scrap metal within just 13 or 14 years \u2014 despite the wind projects touting environmental benefits, Smith noted.<\/p>\n President Trump pledged to block all new wind and solar projects from receiving federal funding in August, calling the renewable energy sources the \u201cSCAM OF THE CENTURY!<\/a>\u201c<\/p>\n Construction on Revolution Wind was halted the following month, only to be\u00a0reinstated by a federal judge<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both it and Empire Wind had been contracted for six-figure contracts by the Interior Department under former President Joe Biden, according to a review of federal spending records.<\/p>\n Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters on Dec. 16, 2025. AP<\/p>\n More than half-a-million dollars was also shoveled out the door by Biden\u2019s administration via a grant to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in December 2024, which in part funded \u201cemissions target setting, emissions strategy development and community stakeholder collaboration\u201d for Vineyard Wind.<\/p>\n That funding all stemmed from the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden\u2019s marquee legislation focused on climate and renewable energy alternatives.<\/p>\n The so-called green subsidies could\u00a0top $1 trillion over the next decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rhode Island approved\u00a0Sunrise Wind<\/a>\u00a0just weeks after the Biden administration\u00a0gave final approval<\/a>\u00a0to the 65-turbine\u00a0Revolution Wind<\/a>\u00a0project in August 2023.<\/p>\n