US President Donald Trump expressed his desire on Monday to revive the Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite the project’s developer walking away. In a post on his social media platform, Trump called for the company behind the project to return to the US and complete the pipeline immediately.
“The company that was unfairly abandoned should come back and get the Keystone XL Pipeline built – NOW!” Trump said. He also promised “easy approvals” and an “almost immediate start” under his administration. If the original developer isn’t willing to resume the project, Trump said, other pipeline companies should step in.
The $8 billion Keystone XL project, which would carry crude oil from Canada’s oil sands to Nebraska, has been the center of heated political debates. Former President Barack Obama rejected the project in 2015 due to environmental concerns, and its status has fluctuated ever since.
During his first term, Trump sought to restart the pipeline, but after taking office in January 2021, a key permit for the project to cross the US-Canada border was revoked. Since then, South Bow Corp., the company created to continue the pipeline’s development after TC Energy Corp. pulled out, has made it clear it is no longer pursuing the project. Much of the pipeline system has already been dismantled, and critical permits have expired.
“We’ve moved on from the Keystone XL project,” said South Bow spokeswoman Katie Stavinoha. “We’re working with customers to find alternatives for increasing Canadian oil supplies to meet the growing US demand.”
Trump’s administration did revoke an executive order that canceled a 2019 permit for the pipeline, potentially bringing the project back into consideration. However, Canada still faces the looming threat of new tariffs on its exports to the US, including a 10% levy on crude oil, although Trump has delayed these tariffs until March.
Trump has repeatedly argued that the US should rely on its own oil and gas resources, without needing imports from neighboring countries like Canada.
These comments are part of Trump’s broader effort to revive stalled energy projects. Earlier this month, he also pledged to complete the Constitution pipeline, a natural gas project destined for New York, even though its developer abandoned the project in 2020.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also spoke about Trump’s push for more energy infrastructure in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. She linked the Keystone XL and Constitution pipelines, emphasizing Trump’s commitment to expanding energy projects.
“We want the Keystone XL pipeline built,” she said. “He wants to build another pipeline in New England, where some of the highest electricity and utility rates in the country exist.”