U.S. President Donald Trump has asserted that an embattled oil pipeline initiative is being resurrected as Canada and the United States engage in ongoing discussions to prevent new U.S. tariffs on Canadian products. Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, that the Keystone XL Pipeline, previously halted by President Joe Biden, might be revived. He shared a digitally created image depicting himself lifting a substantial pipeline labeled “KEYSTONE” from a grave, accompanied by two American flags and a headstone inscribed with “Buried by Biden.”
While no official statement from Canada regarding Trump’s claim has been released, Washington announced a temporary halt on planned 50 percent tariffs on various Canadian goods for three days to facilitate further negotiations. The history of the Keystone XL expansion project dates back to its initial proposal in July 2008, during the tenure of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George W. Bush. TransCanada, now known as TC Energy, and ConocoPhillips proposed a significant extension to the existing Keystone pipeline to transport oilsands bitumen from Alberta to Texas.
In November 2011, the U.S. State Department insisted on rerouting the pipeline to avoid ecologically sensitive regions in Nebraska, leading to subsequent rejections and approvals by various entities over the years. Despite facing legal challenges and regulatory hurdles, the project saw intermittent progress, including suspension, rejections, and subsequent attempts to expedite development under different presidential administrations.
Following Biden’s revocation of the project permit in January 2021, TC Energy terminated the Keystone XL project in June 2021. Subsequently, the company announced plans to seek damages under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) due to the project’s cancellation. Despite the project’s abandonment, Trump, now in his second term, has expressed renewed interest in reviving parts of the Keystone XL initiative, prompting discussions and actions to potentially resurrect the project.