Only I can fix it · Second term · № 44
Got ANWR drilling approved when 'nobody could do it'
“I got ANWR approved—nobody could do it, including Ronald Reagan—in Alaska. It's the largest site—potentially the largest site in the world—larger than Saudi Arabia. And I got it done. Ronald Reagan couldn't get it; nobody could get it done. They tried, but they couldn't get it done. I got it done.”
- Said
- , House Republican Conference dinner, Trump National Doral, Miami
- Subject
- ANWR oil drilling
- Topic
- Energy & environment
- Era
- Second term
What happened
The 2017 tax law he signed did open the refuge to leasing. But the January 6, 2021 sale drew bids on only 11 of 22 tracts, none from oil companies, and raised about $14.4 million against a CBO estimate of $1.8 billion; the two small winning firms gave back their leases in 2022 and the Biden administration cancelled the rest on September 6, 2023. A second auction in December 2024 and January 2025 again drew no bids from oil companies. He signed an executive order on January 20, 2025 declaring the refuge open for exploration.