$900M paid out by Trump to end wind farm project is going to firm run by a Mar-a-Lago neighbor: report
$900M paid out by Trump to end wind farm project is going to firm run by a Mar-a-Lago neighbor: report
Brendan RasciusThu, August 27, 2026 at 8:28 PM UTC
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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.
“After careful consideration, it was determined there is no path forward to permit these projects in the U.S. for the foreseeable future,” RWE U.S. 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.
A firm run by one of Trump's wealthy Mar-a-Lago neighbors is set to reap millions as a result of a Trump administration settlement deal to scrap a wind farm project, according to a new report (AFP via Getty Images)
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.
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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.
“It is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I’ve taken a bunch of my friends there already,” he said during a business event this year, according to the Post. “You’re sitting 15 meters from the president and it’s a cast of characters.”
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Michael Dorrell, an Australian billionaire, owns a home near Mar-a-Lago, the president’s Florida estate, and has bragged about mingling with the Republican’s inner circle, according to the report. Pictured: Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for a New Year’s Eve event at Mar-a-Lago on December 31, 2025 (Getty Images)
The administration has insisted that everything is above board.
“The Trump Administration’s policies have unleashed an energy dominance revolution across our country. 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. “This kind of agenda-driven reporting is why Americans’ trust in the legacy media is at an all-time low.”
RWE, meanwhile, said the company acted independently, and a spokesperson for the Interior Department, which oversaw the settlement deal, said: “No one at the Department directed which company RWE was to invest in.”
Some Democratic lawmakers aren’t buying the explanation, though.
“These fake ‘settlements’ were already an insane waste of taxpayer funds and a ridiculous charade that seems to be blatantly illegal,” Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, told the Post. “This now adds the stench of corruption.”
Source: “AOL Breaking”
