Trump mixes energy news into boastful speech
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President Trump showed some cards, played the hits, and played fast and loose with facts in Tuesday night's combative address to Congress.
Why it matters: There was energy news mixed into the campaign-style, 100-minute stream-of-Trump.
Driving the news: He teased an announcement later this week to "dramatically" boost U.S. production of critical minerals and rare earths.
- Trump also read excerpts of a new letter from Volodymyr Zelensky that said Ukraine is ready to sign a minerals agreement "at any time."
- Trump claimed progress on a huge Alaska gas project. "Japan, South Korea and other nations want to be our partner with investments of trillions of dollars each," he said.
Context: The comments follow last week's reported meetings between Korea's industry minister and top U.S. officials.
- The idea of piping stranded gas from the North Slope to southern Alaska ports has bounced around for decades, but there's new interest among Asian buyers in a fresh LNG source.
- Plus, Trump is pressuring allies to buy more U.S. energy as he waves tariff sticks around.
Zoom in: Speaking of tariffs, Trump's love was apparent.
- The extended riff was a reminder of why Trump's policies can be a mixed bag for oil and gas companies.
- The industry is psyched about Trump's wider energy agenda around permitting, cutting regulations and boosting access.
- But companies also fear retaliation against exports, higher costs for Canadian crude used in Midwest refineries, and higher costs for steel and other project inputs.
Between the lines: The speech was factually challenged.
- For instance, he claimed the Paris Agreement was "costing us trillions of dollars," but the deal actually doesn't force countries to do anything.
- His claim of former President Biden's "EV mandate" is a can of worms. Yes, Biden-era rules would have forced automakers to greatly boost EVs' share in their sales mix in years ahead, but they don't compel anyone to buy anything.
- Elsewhere, the NYT breaks down his exaggerated claim about Democratic activist Stacey Abrams' role in a group receiving EPA grant money.
The other side: "President Trump demonstrated that he only plans to continue his broad overreach of power and implementation of Project 2025 that benefits his billionaire allies and Big Oil," Matthew Davis, the League of Conservation Voters' vice president of federal policy, said in a statement.
- Some Democrats — including Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, ranking Democrats on the Energy and Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works committees — skipped the speech.
What we're watching: The follow-through on this vague (for now) plan on boosting U.S. mineral output.
- On the Alaska pipeline and LNG proposal, Bloomberg notes that Trump's personal involvement "marks a major shift" for the complex project.
