Interior Secretary Doug Burgum halted construction of a major offshore wind farm off New York on Wednesday, in a marked escalation of President Donald Trump’s fight against offshore wind.

Burgum said in a post on X that he had directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a division of the Interior Department, to stop work on Empire Wind. He wrote that the Biden administration had permitted the 810-megawatt project “without sufficient analysis.”

“On day one, @POTUS called for comprehensive reviews of federal wind projects and wind leasing, and at Interior, we are doing our part to make sure these instructions are followed,” he wrote.

Trump has targeted offshore wind since returning to the White House, but Wednesday’s announcement is by far the most significant action his administration has taken to stop the industry.

The president’s previous actions, such as halting new leases and permits in a Day 1 executive order,, largely affected projects that were in the very early phases of development and already faced an uncertain future due to economic pressures.

But in seeking to stop Empire Wind, the Trump administration is taking the unusual step of attempting to reverse an already permitted project that is actively moving forward.

It sets the stage for a massive battle with New York state, which has made offshore wind a central part of its plan to slash climate pollution and meet growing energy demand. Empire Wind is unique in that it plans to plug directly into New York City’s famously congested power gird, delivering carbon-free electrons directly to America’s most populous city.

Burgum’s announcement produced a fiery rebuke from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who accused the Trump administration of “federal overreach.”

“I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future,” Hochul said in a statement.

Equinor, the Norwegian oil giant building Empire Wind, made the decision to go forward with the project last year after a series of setbacks. The project’s costs ballooned in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which exacerbated existing supply chain constraints and forced Equinor to renegotiate its power contract with New York state.

Equinor did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Conservative activists opposed to offshore wind had stepped up calls for Burgum to halt work on Empire Wind in recent weeks. Those calls came as Equinor quietly began the initial phase of offshore construction.

Empire Wind is one of five offshore wind projects along the East Coast in varying degrees of construction. The others are Vineyard Wind, an 800-MW project serving Massachusetts; Revolution Wind, a 704-MW project serving Connecticut and Rhode Island; Sunrise Wind, a 924-MW project serving New York; and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, a massive 2,600-MW project off Virginia.

It was not clear if the stop-work order would extend to those projects. An Interior spokesperson referred a reporter to Burgum’s social media post.

Timothy Fox, an analyst who tracks the industry at ClearView Energy Partners, said he would be surprised if Empire Wind is the only project targeted by Burgum.

“President Trump made his staunch opposition to wind turbines clear on day one,” Fox said. “We think the Administration may similarly halt other projects” that are not in advanced stages of development.

Vineyard, Revolution and CVOW have all begun foundation installation. Vineyard and Revolution have also started installing turbines. Sunrise has begun onshore construction.