President Donald Trump and New York Governor Kathy Hochul are set for a White House meeting on Friday to discuss a major pipeline project that New York has held up for years. Trump has threatened to use federal approval to override the state if it does not support the project.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Hochul’s office via email for comment on Thursday afternoon.
Why It Matters
Trump has viewed energy as the primary mechanism to help drive down inflated costs across all sectors in the country, epitomized in his call to “Drill, Baby, Drill” and produce more oil and energy domestically.
New York has resisted the construction or expansion of several pipelines, including the Northeast Gas Pipeline, Constitution Pipeline, Northern Access Pipeline, and Algonquin Gas Transmission Pipeline.
Generally, the state has invoked the federal Clean Water Act or the state’s recent Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), leading to dragged-out legal challenges and costs.
Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress
What To Know
In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump touted support for New York to build a pipeline, saying that it will save families $2,300 each, but hit out at the state for failing to approve the project.
“All we need is a simple approval from New York,” Trump wrote. “Every other State in New England, plus Connecticut, wants this, in order to help the Environment, and save BIG money. We only need the final approval from New York State, whose people all want it.”
Trump added that if New York failed to approve the project, he would look to “use other authorities,” including “federal approval,” as he would not let New York hold up the project “any longer.”
During a press gaggle on Thursday, Trump told reporters he would meet with Hochul on Friday morning. He said the governor is “coming in tomorrow morning at nine o’clock to meet on that and other things,” adding he will use “extraordinary powers of the federal government” to bypass Hochul if she resists the project.
The project in question is the Constitution pipeline, which New York opposed in 2020 over water permits, according to The Hill.
However, Trump’s insistence that he can use federal approval to override the state’s opposition will prove a familiar refrain, echoing similar comments and arguments he made earlier this year when he said he was striking down New York City’s congestion pricing plan.
Hochul immediately rebuffed that effort, saying: “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king.” Trump and Hochul will reportedly address this topic during their Friday meeting.
The matter faces further complications, considering that Williams Companies, the company behind the pipeline project, has refused to pursue it as long as Hochul opposes it.
“We’re not gonna go putting our neck out until they invite us with the red carpet rolled out,” Williams Companies CEO Alan Armstrong told Barron’s during a sideline interview at the CERAWeek conference in Houston.
Armstrong pointed to two previous efforts to build pipelines in the Northeast that faced immense opposition and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. However, he said he would back the administration’s efforts to approve the pipeline.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “If New York, Connecticut, and New England had their Pipelines, savings from Heating alone would go down $2,300 per family — When you add Air Conditioning, and other things, you would have a $5,000 savings per family. All we need is a simple approval from New York. Every other State in New England, plus Connecticut, wants this, in order to help the Environment, and save BIG money.
“We only need the final approval from New York State, whose people all want it. Otherwise, we’ll have to use other authorities. New York State has held up this project for many years, but we won’t let that happen any longer. We will use federal approval!”
Republican New York Representative Mike Lawler, last month on X, formerly Twitter: “Governor Hochul and Albany Democrats’ boneheaded energy policies will cost New Yorkers thousands of dollars more annually in utility bills. We need an all-of-the-above approach to energy, and Hochul won’t do it.”
What Happens Next
Trump and Hochul will meet on Friday morning. Rebecca Lewis of City & State NY reported on Thursday that Hochul reached out to the White House on Wednesday to set up the meeting. In it, she hopes to also address Penn Station, infrastructure concerns, congestion pricing and energy “in light of the tariffs.”
