Key Democrats shrug off Trump’s wind comments: ‘We chalk that up to him being 80’

Key Democratic negotiators on Tuesday shrugged off President Trump’s Monday remarks that he would not approve wind projects despite his support for a bipartisan bill that seeks to boost all forms of energy.

The bill in question, which aims to ease the path forward for various forms of energy including renewables and fossil fuels, cleared a key procedural hurdle on Monday with significant bipartisan support.

Minutes before the Senate started to vote on the matter, Trump said he would not approve more wind turbines.

“The bill hasn’t been fully negotiated,” he told reporters. “I will not approve wind turbines because wind turbines are a major loser.”

On Tuesday, however, Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) expressed confidence that wind projects would move forward under the administration.

“As long as the agencies continue to come through with the representations and promises that they have made — and we will see more of that in the next few days — then on we go, and we chalk that up to him being 80,” Whitehouse told reporters.

The senator told The Hill that he expects the administration to abide by the assurances they have provided, though he did not say exactly what those promises were.

Heinrich similarly said that “the remarks were simultaneous with the White House actually putting out more wind projects, so I don’t think we can govern based on his off-the-cuff remarks.”

“I think we’re making good progress getting wind projects released right now,” he added.

Heinrich declined to say what assurances he has gotten from the administration, but called the conversations “constructive.”

“My view is that we need to do this for the next president to be able to build things,” he added, saying that under former President Biden, “projects couldn’t get done in four years. You can’t demonstrate success to the American people if it takes two decades to build things.”

Asked what assurances it has given the Democrats, the White House directed The Hill to its statement of support for the permitting reform bill, which says in part that it would “allow industry and innovators to build today in confidence that their permits will be good tomorrow” and “mandates that the Government must issue permits swiftly and without bias against fossil fuels or other forms of technology in the future.”

Meanwhile, during an event hosted by The Daily Caller, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was asked about Trump’s wind comments. He pointed to the fact that many provisions in the bill apply equally across different types of energy.

“I know there’s a lot of speculation about the negotiations but in some ways the negotiations are over. The bill is the bill,” he said, adding that if it passes, projects would be “treated equally under the new law.”

“President Trump made again last night his feelings towards, intermittent, subsidized foreign sources … well known,” Burgum added. “But folks that are concerned about that should just read the bill because that’s what will become law and this is an administration that follows the law.”