• Why Trump’s claim that offshore wind is a security risk is ‘ludicrous’
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Why Trump’s claim that offshore wind is a security risk is ​‘ludicrous’

Offshore wind farms not only pose no threat — they provide national security benefits, in addition boosting the grid and economy, according to military experts.
By Sarah Shemkus

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Offshore wnd turbine with a yellow base with an Ørsted boat nearby
People work on a turbine near an Ørsted boat at South Fork Wind offshore wind farm, off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island, on April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

When the Trump administration issued stop-work orders on all five offshore wind projects under construction late last year, it offered one justification: The turbines could compromise national security.

Experts were immediately critical of this assertion, not least because it came after months of unrelenting hostility toward the offshore wind industry from President Donald Trump. Plus, it’s standard practice for the Department of Defense to assess offshore wind projects, and each one under construction had been thoroughly vetted.

Now, some military experts are going even further, arguing not only that offshore wind poses no threat but that building it can bolster security.

“Offshore wind is not a national security threat — it is a national security imperative,” said Dave Belote, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and CEO of renewable energy consultancy Dare Strategies, at the National Conservative Energy Summit in Boston this week.

Belote was among a panel of energy experts with U.S. military backgrounds who said the Trump administration’s national security rationale is just plain wrong.

The courts have unanimously ruled against Trump’s stop-work orders, allowing work to resume on all five offshore wind projects. Three are now sending power to the grid. The courts seem poised to rule against the Trump administration’s use of similar justifications to halt the permitting of more than 150 land-based wind projects, too.

In fact, experts said, offshore wind is vital to national security.

In the near future, for example, the U.S. military is likely to encounter wind turbines in and near the waters off China, where offshore wind is being built at a rapid pace. American wind farms, the panel said, should be considered vital training grounds where radar operators can learn to distinguish spinning blades from other objects, and submarine crews can practice navigating the underwater obstacles created by turbine foundations.

“You don’t get that unless you have an environment where you can practice that first,” said Kirk Lippold, a retired U.S. Navy commander who is now an outspoken advocate for clean energy and energy security.

He also pointed to countries including Belgium and Poland that are using turbines as platforms for additional radar sensors that can improve the ability to detect threats.

Three men in chairs on a stage with red and blue lighting behind them
From left, John Szoka, Kirk Lippold, and Dave Belote discuss the national security implications of offshore wind at the National Conservative Energy Summit in Boston on August 5, 2026. (Sarah Shemkus/Canary Media)

The panel also dismissed the Trump administration’s stated qualms about turbine blades making it harder to detect hostile drones. During the original federal approval process, any required national security mitigations were identified and agreed to. And software and well-trained operators can tell the difference between turbine blades and other equipment on radar, Lippold said.

“From a national security perspective, what the administration is saying just doesn’t hold water,” he said.

For supporters of offshore wind, of course, the national security question has always been a red herring. Planned wind farms have long been the cornerstone of the Northeast’s decarbonization and grid reliability goals. The installations already in operation — Vineyard Wind off Massachusetts, South Fork Wind near Long Island, and Revolution Wind off Rhode Island — have helped keep the grid going with emissions-free electricity during heat waves and cold snaps.

There are other benefits as well. Hosting a land-based facility like an offshore wind port can have an economic impact equivalent to an auto manufacturing facility, said John Szoka, CEO of summit host the Conservative Energy Network and a retired Army lieutenant colonel. And the turbine foundations can create valuable habitats for fish and other marine life, he noted.

The panel’s comments give support to those who say Trump’s ostensible security concerns are just a last-ditch effort to kill the offshore wind industry he has been steadily weakening since he took office. Only 6 gigawatts of offshore wind are expected to be completed by 2035, per BloombergNEF — far fewer than the 39 GW the research firm anticipated in 2024.

Trump’s argument, Belote said, strained credulity from the beginning. The area slated for the five offshore wind farms targeted by the stop-work orders amounts to 0.016% of the total area of the Atlantic continental shelf, he said, noting that such a small area could not compromise an entire nation’s security.

“It was ludicrous on its face,” he said. 

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Sarah Shemkus is a reporter at Canary Media who is based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and covers New England.

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