President Trump has hinted at bringing the Keystone XL oil pipeline “back from the grave” in a pair of Truth Social posts.
One post included an A.I.-generated image showing Trump wrenching a Keystone XL pipe straight out of a grave, as he stands beside a tombstone reading: “Buried by Biden.”
In the background of the image, an American flag can be seen flying while the pipe itself is stamped with a sign reading: “Completely free. Energy. Jobs. America First.”
The Keystone XL extension project was proposed back in 2008 and was designed to bring oil all the way down from Canada’s Alberta tar sands to refineries in the United States. However, the project was paused under former President Joe Biden, who revoked a permit needed for the pipeline in the U.S.
Former President Barack Obama also opposed the project, saying in 2015 that he agreed with the State Department’s determination that the pipeline “would not serve the national interest of the United States.”
According to the Government of Alberta, the pipeline would have spanned 1,947 kilometers from Alberta to Nebraska and would have carried 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Keystone XL has become a point of contention ever since it was paused, with environmental groups raising concerns about potential oil spills and Native American tribes arguing that it could threaten indigenous land and water safety.
Writing on Truth Social, though, Trump lauded the project on Tuesday night.
“The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!” he teased.
Trump made the claim in a post confirming that he was pausing a 50 percent tariff on an array of Canadian imports for three days, ahead of the finalization of a deal between the two countries.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement on X that “substantial progress” had been made on a deal between the two countries and confirmed that the potential U.S. tariffs were being paused.
However, the Canadian leader did not mention the Keystone XL project in his statement.
Carney previously discussed the revival of the Keystone XL pipeline with Trump in October, sources told the BBC. The prime minister was the one to mention the pipeline, as part of a wider conversation surrounding tariffs and steel.
In a statement obtained by the broadcaster, the prime minister said that the two men discussed “opportunities for material progress in trade in steel, aluminium and energy.”
Trump has called for the revival of the project in February 2025, when he said that the company behind the pipeline should “get it built.”
