Trump’s energy secretary blasts Biden for strangling Alaska and killing American energy advantage

At the Reagan National Economic Forum held at the iconic Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, delivered a fiery condemnation of President Joe Biden’s energy policies, claiming that the restrictions placed on Alaska’s energy production surpass even the sanctions once leveled against hostile foreign nations.

In remarks that blended raw economic frustration with a bold vision for the future of American energy dominance, Wright accused the Biden administration of "strangling" the Last Frontier state with layers of environmental red tape and production restrictions, while ignoring the strategic importance of unleashing domestic resources to serve both U.S. interests and global allies.

“Alaska, a state that has had more sanctions, more restrictions on production of oil and gas in Alaska than everything we did to Iran and Venezuela and North Korea if they produced any combined.

You know, the last administration just strangled Alaska. This awesome state of immense natural resources,” Wright said, drawing nods and applause from a crowd filled with industry leaders, policymakers, and energy innovators.

It wasn’t just rhetorical fire. Wright used the platform to outline the severity of the Biden administration’s impact on American energy production. According to Wright, Alaska—once booming with oil and gas operations—has now become a cautionary tale of overregulation and missed opportunity.

"Alaska has been this great resource. It boomed and then it's been strangled,” he said. “The idea is we export oil from the North Slope of Alaska, it comes by pipeline to southern Alaska, and then it's exported.”

But that once-thriving pipeline of economic growth has been all but frozen under the Biden presidency, Wright argued, as permits have stalled, new exploration has been choked off, and entire investment projects have been delayed or canceled outright.

It’s a far cry from what many remember from the Trump era—an administration that actively pursued energy independence and made bold moves to unlock American energy through executive orders and deregulation.

The Biden administration, by contrast, has ramped up climate-related restrictions and paused leases on federal lands, including those in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), leaving vast natural wealth untapped.

Wright, whose own career has been rooted in advancing American energy, sees this not only as an economic betrayal but a geopolitical one. He described plans that were being actively considered under Trump: building a pipeline from the North Slope of Alaska that would carry not only oil but also natural gas to the southern coast.

There, a massive export terminal could be constructed to send energy directly to U.S. allies in East Asia. “In six days, it could sail to Tokyo or Taiwan or Korea,” Wright emphasized.

“And then down to our allies in East Asia. So they’re getting energy from us. But it would be awesome and great from a geopolitical stance to have a very short supply chain between a huge industrial American facility and our allies in East Asia.”

The plan was not merely about economics—it was about security. A strong, consistent, and direct energy supply from the U.S. to East Asian allies would counterbalance China’s regional dominance and reduce these countries' dependence on Middle Eastern or Russian energy.

Instead of empowering our own industry, however, Wright argued that the Biden administration’s regulatory assault has left American energy producers hamstrung while hostile nations fill the vacuum.

He pointed out that the Gulf of America—specifically the coasts of Texas and Louisiana—remains one of the few places in the country where energy infrastructure projects are still being realized.

“The export terminals today are almost entirely on the Gulf of America,” Wright said. “The natural gas comes from Pennsylvania, Ohio or North Dakota or Texas or Oklahoma. The gas comes from all over. But that’s where you can build these giant facilities to export it.”

But he warned that this limited progress cannot offset the broader stagnation, particularly when enormous reserves remain locked away in Alaska. The problem, he argued, is not capacity—it’s politics.

Wright reminded the audience just how far America has come in recent years. “We were, not long ago, the largest importer of oil in the world and the largest importer of natural gas in the world,” he said.

“Today, we’re the largest exporter of natural gas and a net exporter of oil.” It’s an achievement that many energy experts say would have been unthinkable just two decades ago.

But under Trump’s administration, with a deliberate strategy of deregulation and investment in domestic production, the U.S. underwent an energy transformation.

Now, with Biden’s policies in place, Wright warns that transformation is in danger of reversing. “Who’s the biggest importer of oil in the world and the biggest importer of natural gas in the world? Both China,” he said.

“We have an incredible energy system advantage over China. But we should use it not just to the benefit of our country, but to bring security and tight alliances with our allies as well.”

The problem, Wright suggested, is that the Biden administration is willing to sacrifice strategic energy leadership in the name of climate goals that may sound noble on paper but are, in practice, both ineffective and economically destructive.

He criticized the heavy reliance on wind and solar initiatives that remain intermittent and unreliable, especially in high-demand periods. Meanwhile, coal and nuclear—both once pillars of the American energy mix—have been demonized, dismantled, or ignored altogether.

That same sentiment has echoed across the energy industry in recent years. Many industry leaders have expressed concern that while other nations prioritize energy security and diversification, the United States under Biden has focused narrowly on reducing fossil fuels at any cost—even if that cost is American jobs, rising energy prices, and dependence on foreign imports.

This, Wright argued, is the crux of the Biden failure. Energy policy is not simply about emissions—it’s about infrastructure, diplomacy, employment, and national strength.

And by choking off Alaska’s energy potential and scaling back offshore drilling, the administration is weakening every one of those pillars.

But Wright didn’t merely dwell on the criticism. He also looked ahead. The Trump administration, he said, is already preparing an aggressive strategy to undo Biden-era restrictions and re-launch the era of American energy dominance.

Executive orders are expected to fast-track permit approvals, restore leases in ANWR, revive nuclear and coal infrastructure projects, and streamline LNG export capabilities. And the blueprint will go far beyond domestic reform—it will aim to make American energy the cornerstone of global influence.

That means making Alaska not just an afterthought, but a centerpiece. “This is a state of massive natural wealth,” Wright reiterated. “We have the resources, the expertise, and the geopolitical position to be a world leader in energy. All we need is the will—and the freedom—to act.”

In the meantime, Wright encouraged those in the energy sector not to lose hope. Though federal policies may have shifted under Biden, innovation continues in states that still support industry growth.

Texas, Oklahoma, and North Dakota have pushed ahead with drilling and infrastructure investments. And while Alaska remains hampered by federal regulations, Wright believes that change is on the horizon.

The message out of the Reagan Library was unmistakable. The battle over energy is not just a policy debate—it’s a war for America’s future. One side believes in tightening restrictions, shrinking fossil fuel development, and gambling on green technologies not yet ready to carry the load.

The other believes in unleashing the full spectrum of American resources, securing energy independence, and using that power to lift both allies and industry.

Chris Wright made it clear which side he’s on. And with the full weight of Trump’s second-term administration behind him, it seems America’s energy wars are only just beginning.