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Trump’s Energy Price Hike: A Timeline of Broken Promises

A list of deliberate actions Trump has taken to raise costs for everyday Americans and bankroll billionaires

Overhead view of President Trump with many reporters' microphones pointed at him
Win McNamee/Getty Images via Getty Image News

Last updated August 20, 2025

Since returning to office, Donald Trump has taken a series of deliberate actions that are driving up energy costs for American families. He’s frozen clean energy investments and imposed a national tariff tax on energy imports. From repealing tax credits to blocking new projects to slapping tariffs on a whim, Trump’s agenda has already driven utilities to request $29 billion in rate hikes this year—more than double this time last year. Meanwhile, his administration is fast-tracking energy-hungry data centers even as it strangles the homegrown clean power needed to meet surging demand.

Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently offered an unintentional moment of honesty about the Trump administration’s energy agenda. Defending a wave of policies that are driving up energy prices, he warned, “We’re going to get blamed.” And he’s right—because basic math doesn’t lie. When you choke off new, low-cost sources of power while demand is skyrocketing, prices go up. 

Donald Trump and his Republican allies are breaking their promises and driving up costs for working families. Trump vowed to “cut energy and electricity prices in half” and “make America affordable again.” Voters took him at his word.

But he made another promise too—this one to Big Oil. In exchange for $1 billion in campaign cash, Trump pledged to gut environmental protections and hand out massive new tax breaks to gas up fossil fuel profits. Six months into his presidency, he’s only delivered on that deal. His economic law handed out $18 billion in new tax giveaways, while slashing support for their clean energy competition in the process.

We’ve been tracking the many ways Trump’s agenda is failing to keep campaign pledges,  hiking costs for working-class Americans, and selling them out to benefit oligarchs and the ultra-wealthy. 

Below is a breakdown of actions Trump has taken, starting from the most recent and going back to January 2025 when he first took office, along with their impact on everyday Americans’ wallets: 

 

Timeline

August 2025

July 2025

June 2025

May 2025

April 2025

March 2025

February 2025

January 2025

The Pattern Is Clear

Trump’s so-called cost-cutting presidency is delivering the exact opposite. His energy agenda is engineered to benefit fossil fuel donors at the expense of working-class families. He’s slashing clean power, pushing the grid closer to the breaking point, and hiking energy costs at a time when everyday life is already unaffordable for many. Trump is making sure that Americans pay more to power their lives. All to protect fossil fuel profits.

Even his own party is starting to panic—not because they’ve suddenly embraced clean energy, but because Trump’s sabotage is threatening their states’ power supply and economic stability. Trump promised to bring down energy costs. Instead, he’s picking fights that even his own party says are undermining the very infrastructure needed to power our economy.

 


 

About The Contributors To This Blog

Writer - Seth Nelson

Seth Nelson is the deputy communications director for Evergreen. Previously, he was a vice president at Frontwood Strategies, where he helped advocates fight back against attacks on reproductive rights, push for more affordable housing, and take action on climate change.

Editor - Medhini Kumar

Medhini is the writing/editing digital lead for Evergreen. Through powerful storytelling, she hopes to help move the needle on climate policy and contribute to our collective fight for a livable planet.