President Donald Trump has called for the revival of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the U.S.
- A Decade of "On-Again, Off-Again" Politics: Proposed in 2008 to carry oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast, the project became a symbolic battleground for climate change. It was rejected by President Obama in 2015, revived by President Trump in 2017, and finally canceled by President Biden on his first day in office in 2021.
- The Conflict of Interests: The project pitted economic and energy security arguments (jobs and reduced reliance on overseas oil) against intense opposition from Indigenous groups and environmentalists. Opponents successfully argued that the pipeline threatened the Ogallala Aquifer and would accelerate carbon emissions by encouraging "oil sands" extraction.
- Current Status: While the original project was officially terminated by TC Energy in 2021, its ghost has recently resurfaced. As of early 2026, there are new discussions between the Canadian government and the Trump administration about reviving parts of the infrastructure under a new company, South Bow, though any new attempt faces the same legal and environmental hurdles as before.
Trump took to his online platform, Truth Social, to urge the company building the pipeline to return to America.
"The Trump Administration is very different - easy approvals, almost immediate start," he said.
"If not them, perhaps another pipeline company. We want the Keystone XL pipeline built," he added.
The pipeline, first proposed in 2008, has been controversial from the start. It would carry crude oil from oil sands in Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska in the Midwestern U.S., where it would connect to existing pipelines that run to the Gulf of America and the Mississippi River.
It is opposed by environmental groups and Native American tribes. A years-long battle between the oil industry and environmentalists trickled into politics and U.S. and Canadian courts.
Then U.S. President Barack Obama rejected the project in 2015 due to environmental concerns before Trump revived it during his first term in office.
Then, in one of his first actions as U.S. president in 2021, Joe Biden revoked Trump's permit for the pipeline, stating that its construction was not consistent with his administration's economic and climate goals.
