Trump’s Foreign Energy Policy is a Winning Formula
Trump’s foreign energy policy has the potential to be the foreign policy hallmark of President Trump, if utilized correctly.
The president’s National Energy Council, tasked with formulating energy strategy, is critical for reasserting American influence and restoring global stability. Those who supply the power to an energy-hungry world will lead it.
The advent of artificial intelligence, and the focus it places on developing increased power supplies, is placing high demands on the world’s power infrastructure. Relatedly, national leaders are placing greater consideration on which nations to partner with to supply this demand. Europe’s divorce from its former primary energy provider, Russia, is a glaring example. President Donald Trump is keenly aware of this reality and has laid the groundwork for the U.S. government to seize opportunities.
Last year, on November 15, Trump put out a statement on Truth Social announcing the establishment of a National Energy Council. Led by former North Dakota governor and now Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, this entity is tasked with ensuring American dominance in global energy. Such dominance is certainly possible, given the country’s vast reserves of liquid natural gas (LNG) and the tremendous capacity for nuclear development. What is needed is a long-overdue policy overhaul composed of three key elements: demonstrating that American energy means security, developing effective partnerships, and prioritizing practicality over ideology.
Addressing the first element, the past three years demonstrate the consequences nations suffer when going into business with malicious partners. Russia’s near-monopoly of European energy imports set up the continent for failure with the invasion of Ukraine, subsequently thwarting European efforts to deny Russia war funds through ending their agreements. It was President Trump himself who warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel about such a scenario, along with appeals for Europe to instead deepen its energy partnership with the United States.
These fell on deaf ears, resulting in Europeans contending with higher energy prices and the grim prospect of rationing. Hopefully, Trump’s second administration will be greeted with more open ears and minds, as the stakes are even higher this time. At this year’s American Dynamism Summit in D.C., Vice President Vance addressed the critical need to lower energy costs so that American firms can “build, build, build” and if the United States is to “dominate” in new technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
The second element, establishing key partnerships, is necessary to overcome the zero-sum game that U.S. adversaries like Russia have concocted to assert dominance over other states. Some countries have already undertaken efforts, such as the Black Sea Energy Corridor, to stave off such a scenario.
This joint grassroots effort, begun on both ends of the Black Sea, has seen Georgia and Azerbaijan facilitating the transmission of both renewable and non-renewable energy sources to Eastern European states such as Romania and Hungary. This cooperation is based on parties operating as shareholders, rather than as competitors for influence.
This highlights what draws nations into developing energy partnerships: shared success. A U.S. strategy promising such an outcome will quickly draw supporters. The fact that Doug Burgum has a notable record of success in coalition-building is a promising sign.
One of Burgum’s greatest achievements as governor of North Dakota was uniting the state’s five Tribal Nations in supporting his administration. In 2016, contentions over the development of the Dakota Access Pipeline boiled over regarding environmental concerns, indigenous rights, and energy needs that made international headlines. Burgum was able to calm tensions by making direct contact and bringing concerned stakeholders from all sides to the table, ensuring their voices were heard. Similar situations worldwide require such careful handling. West Africa’s volatile Niger-Delta region, which suffers from piracy attacks in response to ecological damage done by oil drilling, would benefit from Burgum’s approach.
The third element is ending the Biden administration’s overly environmentalist maxims that guide policy-making. Under the former administration, a green-transition-at-all-costs approach sacrificed energy stability for the sake of green ideology.
Germany’s recent experience with such policies offers a warning. While the nation’s deindustrialization has multiple causal factors, the German Green Party’s push towards renewables has been among the most potent. Decommissioning the country’s nuclear power plants and cutting off critically needed Russian gas sources to deprive Moscow of war funds were some of the most self-damaging measures. Germany’s own Chamber of Commerce and Industry has detailed the exodus of industry and business due to high energy costs. Berlin has had to reactivate coal-fired plants to ensure the lights didn’t go off entirely, leaving the country with a more environmentally damaging energy infrastructure than before. That’s what happens when ideology has an oversized hand in policymaking.
America positioning itself as the leader in energy exports is a win for both the United States and the international community at large. For too long, hostile powers like Iran, Venezuela, and Russia have strangled the world through energy power-plays. This has bred over-reliance on their exports or circumvented international markets and sanctions trough black market schemes. America’s enormous energy reserves is a game-changing maneuver with the potential to be the foreign policy hallmark of President Trump, if utilized correctly. It will also be a reaffirmation of the proven reality that an American-led order will be a brighter future for all, especially when it is the United States that is providing power for it.
Logan West is a former Visiting Research Fellow at the Danube Institute in Budapest, Hungary, focusing on international affairs and geopolitics in Central and Eastern Europe. He has written articles for mass media as well as academic publications and has spoken at conferences both in Europe and the United States.
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