A company run by a neighbor of President Donald Trump is set to earn a nearly billion-dollar windfall as a result of a settlement deal to end U.S. offshore wind projects, according to a new report. Under the settlement, announced earlier this month, the Trump administration will pay RWE, a German energy company, $1.2 billion for it to relinquish its offshore leases in New York, California and Louisiana. The Republican president has long opposed offshore wind projects — which he’s labeled ugly, expensive and detrimental to whales — and has worked to block leases.
Instead, his administration has moved to bolster and expand the fossil fuel industry. Offshore said in a statement. The agreement brings the total amount spent on such settlements to nearly $4 billion.
A stipulation of the deal is that RWE must invest in “conventional energy” ventures. In fact, the company will spend the lion’s share of the payout, $900 million, to purchase part of a liquefied natural gas project in Louisiana, The Washington Post reported. That stake is being bought from Stonespeak, a private equity venture led by Michael Dorrell, an Australian billionaire.
Dorrell, who is also a U.S. citizen, has both monetary and physical ties to the president. After Trump’s 2024 election, he donated $1 million to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee. Dorrell also owns a home near Mar-a-Lago, the president’s Florida estate, and has bragged about mingling with the Republican’s inner circle.
This story is a brazen attempt to insinuate a conflict-of-interest that does not exist,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement shared with The Independent. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, told the Post.
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