Trump to declare national energy emergency, unlocking new powers
3 Min Read
US President-elect Donald Trump is set to use emergency powers to boost domestic energy production after taking office.
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US President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a rally ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, on January 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
A Bloomberg report on Monday stated that US President-elect Donald Trump is set to use emergency powers to boost domestic energy production, aiming to reverse President Joe Biden’s climate change initiatives, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The move is one of several actions Trump plans to take—beginning just hours after his inauguration on Monday—to fulfill campaign promises of boosting domestic energy production, according to the report.
The president-elect is set to push for policy changes that would facilitate new oil and gas development on federal lands, alongside efforts to roll back Biden-era climate regulations, according to sources who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.
It wasn’t immediately clear how an emergency energy declaration would be implemented, but a president can access special powers to oversee crude transportation and direct changes in electricity generation and transmission, according to the report.
During the campaign, Trump pledged to declare a national emergency on energy, asserting it was necessary to boost output and meet the growing demand driven by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence.
Trump said, “We’re going to be using our emergency powers to allow countries and entrepreneurs and people with a lot of money to build big plants, AI plants,” adding, “We need double the energy that we already have, and it’s going to end up being more than that.”
According to the report, by declaring a national emergency, a president can utilize up to 150 special powers typically reserved for responding to hurricanes, terrorist attacks, and other unforeseen events, as outlined by the Brennan Center for Justice.
Trump tells EU to buy US oil, gas or face tariffs: Financial Times
On a related note, the Financial Times (FT) reported in December that Trump warned the EU that it must agree to purchase "large scale" amounts of US oil and gas or face tariffs.
“I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large-scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on December 20, 2024.
Trump's threat comes after Brussels had already expressed interest in purchasing more US-liquefied natural gas, which has become crucial for the EU following Russia's reduction of fossil fuel supplies after the start of the NATO-orchestrated war in Ukraine.
Trump has threatened a blanket tariff of up to 20 percent on all non-Chinese US imports. Last month, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde urged Europe's political leaders to work with him on tariffs and increase purchases of US-made products.
