“We Were Energy Independent”: Nationalism, Energy, and the Environment in Donald Trump’s Discourse During the 2024 U.S. Elections

In the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, Donald Trump’s campaign statements on climate change, fossil fuels, and energy policy reflected his skepticism toward climate science and his strong emphasis on fossil fuels. Just as he did during his last presidency, Trump characterised climate change as a “hoax,” dismissing concerns about global warming and portraying climate policies as threats to American energy independence and economic stability. This study focuses particularly on Trump’s environmental rhetoric during his run for the White House, and its connection to nationalism. Grounded in discourse analysis, this article argues that Trump’s statements align closely with what scholars term Resource Nationalism and Energy Nationalism—perspectives that view the environment primarily as a resource to be exploited for national benefit. Although the consequences of such exploitation for both the U.S. and the world, despite clear scientific warnings, are completely disregarded. The analysis highlights Trump’s framing of renewable energy projects, and with it green technology (i.e. electric vehicles) and international climate agreements as harmful to national sovereignty, thus dismissing decarbonization efforts as impractical and unnecessary. The article concludes by highlighting the potential implications of Trump’s rhetoric for both U.S. and global climate agendas. For the U.S., it foresees the continuation of policies that prioritize fossil fuel industries and resist decarbonization, stalling, significantly slowing or actively challenging progress on reducing emissions and advancing sustainable energy transitions. On the global stage, a return to a denialist narrative by the U.S. could have even more severe consequences, undermining collaborative efforts such as international climate agreements by encouraging other nations to prioritize short-term economic gains over long-term environmental objectives. This dynamic will potentially delay the collective response to the climate crisis, exacerbating its global impacts at a time when, as the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated, we no longer have time to waste.