President Donald Trump loves to brag about his energy team.
He thinks Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is “doing a fantastic job.” He praises EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin as the “most reliable, solid guy.” And he boasts that he lured Energy Secretary Chris Wright — “one of the most respected” people in the energy world — away from his high-paying job as an oil executive.
Trump’s decisions to give his energy bosses high-profile assignments and his frequent glowing reviews signal that Burgum, Zeldin and Wright are — at least for now — in the good graces of a president known for his mercurial tendencies and whose signature catchphrase on his reality TV show was, “You’re Fired!” and whose first-term Cabinet broke records for turnover.
Expect Trump’s energy record to get plenty of play during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, where energy costs and efforts to slash regulations are likely to be central to the president’s speech as he pitches his achievements to voters ahead of this year’s pivotal Midterm elections. With Trump’s approval ratings hurting on issues like immigration and tariffs, he and his allies see energy as a winning topic.
Most of Trump’s Cabinet — including the energy crew — will be on hand for the Capitol Hill event.
The trio’s clout in the Trump world is sky-high at the moment, which energy insiders attribute to the officials’ loyalty to the president, Trump’s happiness with their high-profile accomplishments so far and the fact that the president learned some lessons about picking agency bosses after some embarrassments in his first term.
“Throughout his career, President Trump has built things, and so he loves nothing more than transactions and ribbon cuttings,” said James Connaughton, who led the White House Council on Environmental Quality during the George W. Bush administration.
“The Cabinet energy team is working very effectively on a unified agenda of cutting a lot of deals and getting a lot of individual projects moving toward ribbon cuttings,” Connaughton said. “That’s what the president feeds off of and they’re giving every appearance of being able to deliver on that.”
Trump “has assembled the most accomplished energy team of any administration in history, all of whom are all fully united in their mission to reverse the radical left’s Green New Scam and unleash American energy dominance to drive down costs for working families,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in an email.
The latest sign of Trump’s confidence: The president plans to send his energy team — Burgum, Wright and Zeldin — to Tokyo in March with a promise to secure new energy deals with Indo-Pacific countries.
Wright has been central to the Trump administration’s promises to revive the oil industry in Venezuela. The energy boss and former oil executive has been leading the administration’s efforts to lure energy investment into the beleaguered South American nation. Wright has also taken center stage in the administration’s push to force the continued operation of coal plants that were slated for shutdowns.
Burgum is the one who told Trump to hire Wright for the energy job, the president regularly says. “Doug said, ‘You gotta get this guy Chris Wright,’” Trump said in a January Cabinet meeting. Trump recalled telling Burgum, “But I want you to run energy.” Burgum said, “Well, I’m good at it, but he’s better,” Trump said.
He’s happy with the choice, Trump said. Wright is “the best in the world,” Trump said. “Other people have told me that. The heads of the biggest companies have told me that, and it’s really panning out to be so.”
Trump gave Burgum “the land” and gave Wright “the energy,” he said. “And it’s a great combination.”
Wright’s status in Trump’s orbit appeared shaky last fall due to friction over complaints in the White House about how Wright handled plans to kill Biden-era clean energy grants and rifts in DOE’s upper ranks that led to senior staff turnover, POLITICO reported at the time.
But Wright is back in the White House’s good graces, particularly in given his handling of Venezuela and the recent orders to keep coal-fired power plants churning, said a person who worked in the first Trump administration who was granted anonymity to discuss personal relationships.
“Between coal and Venezuela, those two have helped Wright build goodwill with the White House and trust,” that person said.
Burgum, Wright and Zeldin “have done an outstanding job advancing the President’s commonsense agenda, and reports of any friction within this team are completely false. President Trump and his incredible energy team are aligned, focused, and delivering real results for the American people,” Rogers said.
Energy Department spokesperson Ben Dietderich called the previous reports of troubles between Wright and the White House “fake news.” Trump “repeatedly called Secretary Wright ‘the greatest oil man in the world’ and offered praise of the entire [National Energy Dominance Council] team many times in the past year,” Dietderich said.
Burgum, a former North Dakota governor who ran against Trump before throwing his weight behind him, has also amassed a hefty portfolio including some of the president’s favorite projects.
He’s at the helm of the Trump-launched White House “energy dominance” council that also includes Wright and Zeldin. Burgum is also at the center of much of the “America 250” celebrations Trump has planned on public lands this summer. Those include events at national parks, historic battlefields and an auto race in downtown Washington.
Burgum “has done a great job” as Interior secretary, the president said at a White House event in January. Trump during that event appointed Burgum’s wife, Kathryn Burgum, to a new White House effort to promote addiction recovery.
“The president loves these big events and it happened to be virtually all on public lands or managed by the National Park Service,” said the person who worked in Trump’s first administration.
EPA boss Lee Zeldin has emerged as another Trump favorite.
The former New York lawmaker who served on a bipartisan climate caucus in Congress was initially a surprise pick to many in the energy and environment worlds. But Zeldin is widely viewed as a loyal Trump ally who was eager to pursue the president’s agenda of slashing climate regulations and cutting funding to projects Trump and Zeldin have derided as part of a “Green New Scam” put in place by Democrats.
Alongside its partners on the energy dominance council, “the Trump EPA has taken historic action to slash regulatory overreach, lower costs, and unleash American energy for families, workers, and businesses across the country,” EPA said in an email.
Zeldin recently announced the repeal of the “endangerment finding,” an Obama-era linchpin for EPA climate rules. Trump has also appointed him as his administration’s leader in a push to speed up housing permits in the wake of California wildfires, a post that also has Zeldin sparring with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. And Trump on Saturday announced that Zeldin’s agency was assigned to lead the federal response to a Potomac River sewage spill that prompted a political fight.
Zeldin “causes no drama and gets his work done. He’s a happy warrior,” said the former Trump official.
Across the board, the trio of energy bosses is “riding high” at the moment, that person said.
Trump’s critics are outraged about the energy officials’ track record so far as they continue their quest of promoting fossil fuels and scrapping environmental regulations.
“It is no surprise that Trump gives his energy trio rave reviews — they have done the bidding of the oil, gas, and coal companies at every turn,” said Matthew Davis, vice president of federal policy at the League of Conservation Voters. “Burgum, Wright, and Zeldin are cutting short thousands of people’s lives a year, making our children sicker, driving up costs, worsening extreme weather disasters, and polluting our air, water, and land.”
‘A complete do-over’
Their status contrasts at the moment with some other Cabinet officials who are facing controversies and unflattering headlines.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is grappling with an investigation of sexual assault allegations against her husband. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is facing criticism after documents released by the Justice Department revealed he had lunch with Jeffrey Epstein, even after Epstein was convicted of sex crimes.
Trump sees his energy team as a competent crew able to hand him wins, according to energy insiders and former administration officials.
They see the vibe shift as notable after investigations and controversies and turnover troubled Trump’s first-term Cabinet, including his energy and environment team.
Take former EPA boss Scott Pruitt, who faced a torrent of criticism over his travel and spending habits about a year into his tenure during Trump’s first term. By July 2018, those controversies had snowballed and Pruitt was out of a job.
First-term Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke faced ethics allegations before he left in the middle of Trump’s term. Then-Energy Secretary Rick Perry joined the Cabinet departures in late 2019 after making news as one of the officials whose intervention in Ukraine’s energy politics led to a House impeachment probe of Trump.
Trump’s Cabinet is more tightly controlled this time around, according to sources close to the administration, which they attribute in large part to chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Another big factor: Trump and his allies had four years of the Biden administration to map out their plans for policy and personnel, giving Trump a second chance at picking loyal Cabinet bosses.
“I just think everything’s better,” said one person close to the administration granted anonymity to discuss personnel. “You have Susie Wiles, who’s just fabulous. You have all of these people who are prepared this time. It’s a lot less confusing.”
Cabinet secretaries are under more White House control than they were during the first term, said the former Trump official.
There’s a policy hub where everything’s being run out of the White House during this administration, that person said. “You can’t compare Trump 1 to Trump 2 on how it’s operating. They’re so different.”
Trump got the opportunity to “get a complete do-over” on picking his Cabinet this time around, said a second person who served in the first Trump administration.
“You learn how you would have preferred to do it the first time and then in those rare occasions that you get a do-over you do it and you feel like you’re in a much better spot. And I guess that’s what he’s managed to do,” that person said.
