The global conversation around artificial intelligence is framed as a technology race.
Yes, America is in an AI race, but that race will be over before it even starts if we do not secure reliable fuel to power it.
From a technical advancement standpoint, the AI race is a challenge of intellect: algorithms, chips, and computing architecture.
From an energy standpoint, however, it is a question of wisdom: Do we have the wisdom to make the right decisions now, to prioritize and properly utilize the abundant, affordable, and reliable energy resources we already possess?
AI runs on massive, continuous amounts of electricity. The nations that can deliver power at scale, at the lowest cost, and with the highest reliability will lead not only in AI, but in manufacturing, economic growth, and national security.
China understands this reality. In fact, China now generates more than twice as much electricity as the United States and continues to expand power infrastructure at a pace the U.S. has not matched in years.
If America intends to lead in AI, we must prioritize natural gas. It is the only fuel source today that is readily deployable, scalable, reliable, and affordable.
For the first time in more than half a century, U.S. electricity demand is growing at a sustained rate. The Department of Energy estimates the U.S. will need 50 to 150 gigawatts of new electric capacity within the next decade, describing the challenge as the Manhattan Project of our time. 
A single large data center can consume as much power as a heavy industrial facility. Data centers are modern-day industrial factories, operating 24/7 and requiring uninterrupted baseload power.
We must use wisdom when locating these facilities. Power generation can be built almost anywhere, but fuel cannot. Our grandfathers understood this. Steel mills and petrochemical plants were built near power plants, and power plants were built near fuel sources.
When new power demand is located far from the fuel source, costs rise, timelines stretch, and risks multiply. Long-haul transmission adds expense, energy loss, permitting complexity, disruption, and public opposition. Electricity is expensive not only to generate, but to move.
The most efficient solution is also the simplest: build new power demand on top of the fuel supply.
<div id="attachment_1022749" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022749" class="size-large wp-image-1022749" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2242629476-864x576.jpg" alt="The former General Motors and Foxconn factory in Lordstown, Ohio, US, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. In August, Foxconn announced it had stuck a deal to sell the giant facility to SoftBank, with the two companies planning to start manufacturing data center equipment on the same site where GM cars including the Chevy Impala once came off the assembly line. Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2242629476-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2242629476-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2242629476-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2242629476.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
There are two regions in the U.S. that are uniquely equipped. More than 80% of U.S. natural gas production is concentrated in two strategic regions: the Gulf Coast and the Shale Crescent USA (Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania). If these three states were a country, they would be the third-largest natural gas producer in the world, producing roughly one-third of all U.S. natural gas.
Natural gas in the Shale Crescent is among the lowest-cost in the industrialized world, roughly three to four times cheaper than Europe and Asia, and among the lowest-priced in the United States.
For high-load users like data centers, AI infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing, proximity to reliable baseload power is a strategic advantage.
Across the country, data centers are already struggling to secure power. Utilities are issuing moratoria, interconnection queues stretch into the next decade, and grid operators warn that demand is outpacing supply. 

America cannot out-AI China if China out-powers the United States.
The path forward is not mysterious, but it does require political will and wisdom. Natural gas must be treated as a strategic national asset, and the lowest-cost, lowest-risk path forward is to locate new data centers and power-intensive infrastructure directly on top of the fuel supply.
If we make that choice now, we can secure the energy foundation our AI future requires.
* * *
Nathan Lord is the President of Shale Crescent USA, a non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage business growth and create high wage jobs in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Nathan is a graduate of Marietta College and earned his MBA from Liberty University.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Construction At The First Stargate AI Data Center

America Can’t Win The AI Race If China Wins The Power Race

Artificial Intelligence

China

Energy

Nuclear Power

Oil and Gas

power grid

Technology

The security of America’s power grid is under threat from the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign regimes who are pre-positioning energy devices they can sabotage from afar. Rapid state government action is needed to remove these technological threats that are already embedded in our electrical grid.
A <a href="https://www.striderintel.com/newsroom/strider-u-s-power-grid-exposed-to-unprecedented-risk-from-prc-made-equipment/">new report</a> from Strider Intelligence revealed that solar inverters feeding electricity into the U.S. power grid are overwhelmingly manufactured by Chinese companies tied to Beijing’s government and military. These devices are connected to the same networks that power America’s hospitals and defense installations, keep communications and water systems running, drive manufacturing and transportation, underpin the financial sector, and enable emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing.
The Chinese inverters are present at a scale far larger than previously understood. Nearly every utility surveyed by Strider, representing roughly 12% of national electricity generation, relies on Chinese inverters.
As Strider warns, without decisive intervention, “the Chinese government, through its control over [government-linked] firms and data networks, could exploit this access to manipulate or disrupt the U.S. grid in a crisis.” Because these inverters occupy critical control points and can be controlled remotely, they give Beijing a degree of proximity no foreign adversary should ever possess inside American infrastructure.
These vulnerabilities did not appear overnight. They grew out of decades of accelerated “green” energy expansion, during which time solar became the dominant source of new electricity across America. Much of the solar hardware came from companies with direct links to Chinese intelligence and military. Security concerns were ignored in the rush to scale renewables, resulting in American tax incentives and utility fees funding Chinese sabotage devices.
This outcome is in part the product of a successful CCP influence operation. China has long waged an insidious campaign to promote the “green” energy agenda to make the United States more dependent on their products. Research from State Armor revealed that <a href="https://statearmor.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/State-Armor-Who-is-Energy-Foundation-China-Report.pdf">Energy Foundation China</a>, a nonprofit supervised by the Chinese Communist Party, has quietly pushed tens of millions per year into U.S. universities and advocacy groups to push policies that deepen America’s reliance on Chinese technologies. Industrial ambition paired with political influence secured Beijing’s access to our infrastructure.
While federal action is needed, Washington’s response has been slow, disjointed, and largely blind to the scale of the threat. Many of the vulnerabilities sit in infrastructure overseen by the states. That is where the solutions must begin.
State leaders must completely block adversary-linked companies, nonprofits, and middlemen from critical infrastructure. Texas did so with the <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/pdf/SB02116I.pdf">2021 Lone Star Critical Infrastructure Protection Act</a>, enacted to prevent a Chinese General from controlling the electrical grid near Laughlin Air Force Base. Entities tied to the CCP have no business inside the systems that power our grid, move our water, carry our data, or keep our transportation networks running.
States should also prohibit the installation of Chinese network-connected technologies that create <a href="https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118444/witnesses/HHRG-119-HM08-Wstate-GleasonN-20250722.pdf">remote access points and kill switches</a> inside critical systems. Strider’s findings confirm that many inverters and battery systems include built-in communication features that expose the grid to third parties without operator knowledge or consent.
State attorneys general should invoke existing consumer-protection, data-privacy, and deceptive trade practices laws to hold companies liable when they sell equipment that contains malware and kill switches. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-launches-investigation-use-ccp-aligned-tech-products-critical-state">opened an investigation</a> into Chinese Military Company CATL for battery systems that create grid vulnerabilities. <a href="https://ago.nebraska.gov/news/attorney-general-hilgers-sues-lorex-selling-cameras-put-nebraskans-security-risk">Nebraska Attorney General Hilgers</a> and <a href="https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/attorney-general-james-uthmeier-issues-subpoena-lorex-consumer-protection-data-privacy">Florida Attorney General Uthmeier</a> have launched fraud lawsuits against Chinese camera systems that facilitate espionage and sabotage. Companies should be enjoined from selling dangerous devices, and the dollars recovered through successful fraud claims should go toward replacing insecure Chinese-connected hardware.
States have the authority to act now, long before Congress finishes arguing over what comes next. They can close the backdoors, cut off adversary-linked contractors, and replace the equipment that should never have been allowed into the grid in the first place.
America cannot secure its future while foreign adversaries secure control over our essential systems. China has spent years pre-positioning itself inside U.S. infrastructure through industrial dominance and political influence. The danger is already inside our systems. We can either treat this as the national security threat it is, or concede that our utilities will be regulated by China’s government instead of our own.
* * *
Michael Lucci is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of State Armor, which he created to develop and enact state solutions to global security threats. Follow him at: @Michael7ucci
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25">Christmas Sale &#8211; Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>

Workers Manufacture Solar Panels For Export In Suqian

America’s ‘Green’ Power Grid Has A Red China Problem

Attorney General

Espionage

Green New Deal

Solar Power

Spying

A new report sent to lawmakers across the United States this week warns of radical environmental groups attempting to “weaken critical power sources at a time when we need them most.”
American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac sent a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/974189004/Jason-Isaac-Letter">letter</a> and <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/974189428/AEI-Report">report</a>, obtained by The Daily Wire, to Republican lawmakers and leaders in Washington, D.C., and across the United States outlining the threat from “a small but highly coordinated activist network committed to restricting American energy production.” The report from the institute outlines the scope of the threat to American energy and names some of the key players.
“[T]his coalition has gained outsized influence through a billion-dollar activist ecosystem, coordinated national operations, and targeted litigation designed to obstruct or delay U.S. energy development. These efforts strengthen America’s rivals by restricting domestic production and limiting our ability to compete on the global stage,” says the letter.
The 18-page report notes that the coalition of green groups and leftist organizations is influencing U.S. energy policy through “its outsized influence on Democratic politics and policymaking and through its fervent opposition to the Trump administration’s efforts to unleash American energy.”
Green groups and trained activists are undermining American energy dominance through close relationships with influential Democrats, costly legal challenges, protests, and sometimes sabotage of major energy projects. The report lists as some of the major players in the effort to restrict fossil fuel use the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Sierra Club, and Greenpeace.
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible c-link--underline" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Green groups have long opposed oil, gas, and coal, and often oppose zero-carbon energy projects if they are nuclear or hydropower. The green coalition has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/climate/greenpeaces-fight-with-pipeline-giant-exposes-a-legal-loophole.html">suffered</a> a major setback recently in a court case that has the potential to bankrupt Greenpeace in the United States.
Earlier this year, a jury in North Dakota found three Greenpeace groups liable for $670 million in damages over the role they played in a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. A judge later reduced the damages by about half to $345 million.
The protest took place nearly a decade ago as green groups obstructed progress on the pipeline for roughly a decade. The protest resulted in charges and jail time for some activists, such as Jessica Reznicek, who was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdia/pr/des-moines-woman-sentenced-eight-years-prison-conspiracy-damage-dakota-access-pipeline">found</a> guilty of conspiracy to damage an energy facility and sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
The report suggests that the green coalition is prepared to renew its attack on major, reliable energy sources, however, as the coalition pushes forward radical changes to the United States’ energy infrastructure such as those envisioned in the Green New Deal. The <a href="https://www.ocasiocortez.com/green-new-deal">goal</a> of the Green New Deal is to “decarbonize the U.S. economy within ten years,” according to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who helped write a resolution for the radical commitment in 2019.
Proponents of the Green New Deal, such as the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/trade/what-green-new-deal">Sierra Club</a>, often state as added aims “racial and economic equity” by favoring minorities for jobs and opportunities created by the radical transition to intermittent wind and solar energy.
The American Energy Institute report says that, despite the media coverage generated by claims of catastrophic climate predictions, the effort to undermine fossil fuel production in the United States is being pushed by “well-coordinated campaigns funded by donor networks with billions of dollars in resources,” not grassroots activists.
“Major funders of these green groups include the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Arabella Advisors network, the Rockefeller network, the Tides network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Ford Foundation,” says the report.
The campaign represents a significant threat to Trump’s agenda in essentially every respect because energy impacts every major issue in some way.
“These organizations form a united front with one goal: crippling the American energy industry,” the report states. “Despite the broad unpopularity of their agenda, the environmental groups in this report intend to leverage their aggressive activism, deep political ties, and opaque funding to drive political change in the U.S. – with potentially disastrous consequences. If they are allowed to succeed, the environmental alarmists’ agenda will bring about the end of U.S. energy independence.”

Dakota Access Pipeline protest

‘Highly Coordinated Activist Network’ Is Undermining Trump’s Plan For Energy Dominance, Report Warns

Donald Trump

Environment

Greenpeace

U.S.

<div>
The Trump administration “paused” five offshore wind leases on Monday over concerns that they would interfere with military radars.
Specifically, the federal government cited “clutter” from the motion of the “massive turbine blades” and the “highly reflective towers,” according to a press release from the Interior Department.
“The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Monday.
“Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers. The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people,” he continued.
Burgum said that “ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED.”
The Interior Department said that its pause will affect the Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Sunrise Wind, and Empire Wind 1 leases. All of the wind projects are along the East Coast. Vineyard Wind 1, Sunrise, and Revolution Wind are located off the coast of New England, and Empire Wind is off the coast of New York.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) slammed the decision by the administration, saying that they “will look for any excuse to continue its assault on clean energy — and the thousands of good-paying jobs these projects bring — but there is no credible justification for this stoppage.”
“The real threat to national security is in undermining our energy independence,” Hochul continued. “We are working with other impacted states to review every available option to get these projects back on track.”
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible c-link--underline" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25&amp;_gl=1*vdwpap*_gcl_au*MTYzODg4ODI4OS4xNzY1ODA4NTE2*_ga*NDM4MjI1MTA1LjE3NTc5NTYzMzI.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*czE3NjY0MTUwMTMkbzM0OSRnMSR0MTc2NjQxNTAxNiRqNTkkbDAkaDA." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
President Donald Trump has been a fierce advocate against wind power as a source of energy and instead favors natural gas, oil, and nuclear power.
“Windmills are an economic and environmental disaster. I don’t want even one built during my Administration,” he posted to Truth Social in January. “The thousands of dead and broken ones should be ripped down ASAP. Most expensive energy, only work with massive government subsidies, which we will no longer pay!”
In an August post to Truth Social, he also voiced his opposition to solar power.
“Any State that has built and relied on WINDMILLS and SOLAR for power are seeing RECORD BREAKING INCREASES IN ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY COSTS. THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY! We will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar. The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!! MAGA,” the president wrote, which prompted the Solar and Storage Industries Association to respond on X, <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2025/08/21/trump-revives-attacks-on-renewable-energy-as-solar-surges-00517166" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLITICO</a> reported at the time.
“The real scam is blaming solar for fossil fuel price spikes,” the association stated. “Farmers, families, and businesses choose solar to save money, preserve land, and escape high costs of the old, dirty fuels being forced on them by this administration.”
</div>

Operational wind turbine of South Fork Wind Farm in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island

Trump Admin Pauses Five Wind Turbine Projects Over ‘National Security Risks’

Doug Burgum

east coast

Interior Department

Kathy Hochul

Trump Administration

wind

In a Republic, lasting progress depends on the art of persuasion. To shape policy, politicians and activists must first convince the public that their ideas work. Yet with increasingly radical tactics — from <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/monkeywrenching-vandals-are-reinventing-climate-activism/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">vandalizing infrastructure</a> to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/arts/design/vandalizing-art-protests.html">defacing priceless works of art</a> — and open dismissal of the affordability challenges many Americans face, it’s little wonder the environmental movement has struggled to win hearts and minds.
Faced with soaring energy costs, a <a href="https://www.aei.org/articles/the-clean-energy-transitions-voter-problem/">2024 YouGov poll</a> found that 73% of voters ranked the price and availability of energy as their top concern. Rather than confronting this reality, radical environmental activists have abandoned persuasion in favor of reckless, unfounded lawsuits against American energy companies, actions that threaten not only our energy security but the very principles of fairness and accountability that our democracy depends on.
The trend is best illustrated by Greenpeace International’s so-called “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/greenpeace-files-suit-against-us-pipeline-company-energy-transfer-2025-02-11/">anti-SLAPP</a>” lawsuit against Energy Transfer, a U.S. pipeline company. Greenpeace filed the case in the Netherlands, even though Energy Transfer has no presence or infrastructure in the European Union, claiming the company tried to silence it through costly litigation in North Dakota. Earlier this year, a North Dakota jury found Greenpeace liable for defamation, property damage, and civil conspiracy over its actions during the 2016 and 2017 Dakota Access Pipeline protests. The jury even ordered Greenpeace to pay roughly <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greenpeace-energy-transfer-lawsuit-verdict/">$660 million </a>in damages. Instead of accepting that verdict, Greenpeace is now taking the fight overseas in an apparent attempt to escape responsibility — an act of desperation mirrored by recent high-profile <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2025/10/16/greenpeaces-top-legal-staffers-exit-00611338">resignations</a> from its own legal team. 
Greenpeace is not alone. In September 2024, California’s attorney general and several environmental groups <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/climate/exxon-california-plastics-defamation-lawsuit.html">sued</a> ExxonMobil, accusing the company of contributing to environmental damage from single-use plastics. Yet ExxonMobil doesn’t manufacture single-use plastics and has <a href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/sustainability-and-reports/sustainability/meeting-societys-critical-needs-energy-products/expanding-the-plastics-life-cycle#Ourapproach">invested</a> heavily in recycling innovations to expand the kinds of plastics that can be reused. “Instead of suing us,” an Exxon representative <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-plastics-lawsuit-exxon/">said</a>, “they could have worked with us to fix the problem and keep plastic out of landfills. To date, we’ve processed more than 60 million pounds of plastic waste into usable raw materials.” Ignoring such cooperation and the vital role plastics play in healthcare and food safety, activists continue to favor publicity over practical solutions. 
These lawsuits come at a pivotal moment for America’s energy future. The AI revolution promises to drive economic growth and create new opportunities, but data centers powering that revolution demand historic levels of energy. The United States has the resources to meet this challenge, but if energy producers are buried in costly, politically motivated litigation, our ability to keep energy affordable and reliable will be at risk.
For all the rhetoric from environmental activists, it is American energy producers who have delivered the environmental progress that actually improved people’s lives. Affordable and reliable energy helped drive an almost 80% reduction in common air pollutants since the 1970s and made the United States the world leader in access to clean and safe drinking water. When the Safe Drinking Water Act was first implemented, more than one-third of public water systems failed to meet federal standards, as documented in the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-04/documents/epa816f04030.pdf">EPA’s historical overview of the Safe Drinking Water Act.</a> Early federal surveys summarized by the <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL31243">Congressional Research Service</a> show that roughly 60% of systems were out of compliance in the 1970s. Today, more than 90% of water systems meet EPA’s strictest health-based requirements, according to the agency’s <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL31243">National Public Water Systems Compliance Report</a> and reviews by the <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL31243">National Academies of Sciences</a>. These gains occurred while American oil and gas production set records. The lesson is simple: prosperity powered by abundant energy produces cleaner air and cleaner water, not political mandates or litigation campaigns.
These hard-won gains are exactly why the current wave of activist lawsuits is so destructive. Instead of building on America’s energy strengths, groups like Greenpeace are working to undermine the very industry that made this environmental progress possible.
When an organization found liable by a jury for defamation and property damage turns around and cries “SLAPP,” it risks undermining the very legal protections meant to safeguard legitimate free speech and activism. If every losing activist can hide behind these claims, true environmental advocacy becomes collateral damage.
Real progress will continue to come from harnessing America’s ingenuity to responsibly produce energy, without sacrificing prosperity, stability, or the rule of law. The path forward isn’t reckless litigation. It’s common sense and energy abundance.
* * *
The Honorable Jason Isaac is the Founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute, a trade organization that unapologetically champions free markets and American energy. Previously, he served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25">Christmas Sale &#8211; Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>

TOPSHOT-DOUNIAMAG-US-environment-THUNBERG

Environmental Activists Abandon Persuasion For Litigation

Court

Environmentalists

ExxonMobil

Lawsuit

The Netherlands

This holiday season, there’s a little extra cheer at the gas pump. For the first time in four years, the average price of gas has dipped below $3 a gallon.
&#8220;As you go into the holiday season, there is nothing better than saving money,&#8221; Energy Secretary Chris Wright told <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/gas-prices-drop-below-3-nationwide-trump-says-2-gas-within-reach">Fox Business</a>.
According to AAA, the last time gas averaged $3 or below was May 2021. It was a different world: Joe Biden was president, California was still in COVID hibernation, and every junk drawer in America was 80% face masks.
Today, the average gas price per gallon is $2.978.
&#8220;This is what happens when the American public elects a president who cares about their pocketbook, cares about American people and not special interests or the climate crazies or whatever interest the Democrats are trying to appease,&#8221; Secretary Wright said. &#8220;President Trump&#8217;s just focused on the American consumer.&#8221;
California ($4.51) and Hawaii have the highest gas prices in the country. The states with the lowest gas prices are Oklahoma ($2.40), Texas ($2.53), Arkansas ($2.55), Colorado ($2.56), Mississippi ($2.57), Tennessee ($2.58), Louisiana ($2.60), Iowa ($2.63), Wisconsin ($2.63), and Missouri ($2.64), per AAA.
50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at <a class="c-link" href="http://dailywire.com/cyberweek" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://DailyWire.com/cyberweek" data-sk="tooltip_parent">DailyWire.com/cyberweek</a>.
Trump said he thinks the national average can go way lower.
&#8220;We&#8217;re gonna be, I think, at $2 a gallon,&#8221; Trump said during a press conference earlier this week. &#8220;We could even crack that at some point, I&#8217;d love to do it. We could do it more easily if we weren&#8217;t building up the Strategic National Reserves, which Biden emptied out before the election.&#8221;
The reserves Trump is referring to are the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the government’s emergency supply of crude oil stored along the Gulf of America.
Crude oil prices are hovering around $60 a barrel, which is driving down <a href="https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/">gasoline</a> prices at the pump.
Secretary Wright said another boost to Americans&#8217; wallets would be to continue building the domestic oil and gas supply.
&#8220;We will see increasing production in the next six to 12 months out of the Gulf of America. If you look carefully at the oil production data in the U.S., as a whole right now, it&#8217;s almost a million barrels a day higher than it was 12 months ago. So even with low oil prices, we&#8217;re seeing more development. Just common sense is back in town.&#8221;
The <a href="https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/">U.S. Energy Information Administration</a> predicts gas prices will remain below the $3/gallon average in 2026.

Photo-illustration: Getty Images; Daily Wire staff

Cha-Ching! Trump Delivers Relief At The Pump, Driving Gas Prices Down To Lowest Point In 4 Years

Gas Prices

News

President Donald Trump said that the reason he directed the United States to conduct new nuclear weapons tests was that countries like China and Russia were secretly doing the same thing. 
Trump made the comments during a wide-ranging interview with CBS News correspondent Nora O’Donnell on “60 Minutes” that was broadcast on Sunday. Just before he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115460423936412555">posted</a> on Truth Social that he had directed the Department of War to start testing America’s nuclear weapons. 
“You have to see how they work,” Trump said of his directive. “The reason I&#8217;m saying testing is because Russia announced that they were going to be doing a test. If you notice, North Korea&#8217;s testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We&#8217;re the only country that doesn&#8217;t test, and I don&#8217;t want to be the only country that doesn&#8217;t test.”
When O’Donnell said that countries like China and Russia hadn’t done nuclear weapons testing, Trump countered that they were doing so secretly.
“Russia&#8217;s testing nuclear weapons,” Trump said. “And China&#8217;s testing them too. You just don&#8217;t know about it.”
“Russia&#8217;s testing, and China&#8217;s testing, but they don&#8217;t talk about it. You know, we&#8217;re an open society. We&#8217;re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it, because otherwise you people are going to report,” Trump said. “We&#8217;re going to test, because they test and others test.”
Trump then suggested that Russia and China may be testing their nuclear weapons underground. 
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-trump-nuclear-weapons-tests-60-minutes-beijing-response/">denied</a> that China was conducting nuclear weapons tests. She claimed that China has “upheld a self-defense nuclear strategy and abided by its commitment to suspend nuclear testing.”
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that upcoming U.S. testing would involve systems checks, not nuclear detonations.
“I think the tests we’re talking about right now are system tests,” he <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-nuclear-weapons-testing-explosions-wright-energy-a920fc10aff85243cb6895fad55b2839">said</a> during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Briefing.” “These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call noncritical explosions.”
Wright added that the tests would include looking at “all the other parts of a nuclear weapon to make sure they deliver the appropriate geometry and they set up the nuclear explosion.”
The last time the United States detonated a nuclear weapon was in 1992. In 1996, the United States, under President Bill Clinton, signed an international agreement not to test nuclear weapons, but the Senate voted against ratifying the treaty. The last publicly reported test of a nuclear weapon was by North Korea in 2017.

U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the White House

Trump Sounds Alarm: China and Russia Conducting Secret Nuke Tests

Executive

North Korea

nuclear missiles

Nuclear Weapons

Politics

Russia

The Trump administration and Japan reached a deal on rare earth minerals on Tuesday and unveiled a list of projects included in a $550 billion investment proposal stemming from a July trade agreement.
The rare earth deal, which President Donald Trump signed alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, establishes a mutual stockpiling arrangement and stipulates that the United States and Japan will cooperate with international partners to protect the supply chain, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/trump-takaichi-agree-rare-earth-critical-minerals-supply-2025-10-28/">reported</a>. Trump has been pushing to better secure the rare-earth supply chain and cut into China&#8217;s stranglehold over rare-earth minerals.
Along with the rare-earth deal, the United States and Japan released a list of proposed projects to boost Japanese investment in the U.S. economy. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983119054983287061">said</a> at a press conference alongside Trump on Tuesday that the proposals &#8220;are driven by the Japanese strategic investment initiative, which was created by [Trump&#8217;s] tariff policy and by [Trump&#8217;s] historic trade agreement with Japan.&#8221;
Lutnick added that the initial investment totals $490 billion, which he called the &#8220;launch phase,&#8221; Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-28/trump-hails-japan-alliance-offers-takaichi-anything-you-want">reported</a>. After the &#8220;launch phase,&#8221; more projects would then be considered for the total $550 billion project. The proposed Japanese investments were a key part of the U.S.-Japan trade deal agreed upon in July, when President Trump lowered tariffs on Japanese auto imports from 27.5% to 15%, and in exchange, Japan <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/business/japan-investment-trump-tariffs.html">agreed</a> to invest $550 billion in the United States.
The two allies announced numerous investment projects spanning energy and critical minerals, as well as artificial intelligence development. Among the proposed projects is a plan to invest up to $100 billion for the construction of nuclear reactors and small modular reactors in the United States. That proposal would involve the American manufacturing company Westinghouse and include the &#8220;involvement of Japanese suppliers and operators, such as Mitsubishi, Heavy Industries, Toshiba Group, and IHI,&#8221; according to a Japanese government <a href="https://www.meti.go.jp/press/2025/10/20251028002/20251028002-a.pdf">handout</a>. Another $100 billion energy proposal would build more small modular reactors in the United States with some investment from Japanese companies.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
“These are great companies, many of them household names — that you would expect — that are going to build infrastructure and improve the national economic security of the United States,” said Lutnick.
President Trump also <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983080708055900442">said</a> that Toyota planned to invest more than $10 billion in U.S. auto plants. During a speech to U.S. troops in Japan, Trump said, &#8220;I was just told by the prime minister that Toyota is going to be putting auto plants all over the United States to the tune of over $10 billion.&#8221;
&#8220;And that&#8217;s a lot to do with because we have all the AI plants, we have so many things happening in the United States,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;And it&#8217;s because of November 5th election day, but it&#8217;s also because of tariffs.&#8221;
The Toyota investment was not mentioned in the government fact sheet released on Tuesday.
Other investment proposals mentioned included a $30 billion proposal for Mitsubishi Electric to supply generators, transmission, and distribution systems, as well as equipment for AI data centers. A $15 million proposal included Panasonic supplying &#8220;energy storage systems, and other electronics, to contribute to strengthening supply chains in the U.S.&#8221;
The major U.S.-Japan announcements on Tuesday come just two days before Trump is expected to meet with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, a meeting Trump hopes will lead to a trade deal.

President Trump Meets With Prime Minister Of Japan

More Trump Trade Wins: U.S. And Japan Strike Rare Earth Pact, Announce Strategic Investment Deal

Global Politics

Howard Lutnick

Japan

rare earth minerals

trade

It has never been said “So goes New Jersey, so goes the nation.” But next month’s gubernatorial election here between Democrat Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill and Republican former State Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli may indeed be a bellwether regarding how the midterms will play out next year.
This is an interesting state. If not solidly blue, it has certainly pitched its tents in the blue camp more often than not. The last ostensible Republican to sit in the governor’s residence of Drumthwacket was the rather pathetic and Trump-deranged Chris Christie — who has since made a career currying favor with left-wing media as their token “Republican.”
Next month voters in the Garden State will have a clear choice as there are genuine challenges facing whoever wins the race.
First off, it is an expensive proposition to both live and run a business in New Jersey. The median price of a single-family home here is $580,000, up 3.5% year-on-year and over 60% in five years. Property taxes on these homes can run you north of $13,000/year. Although this is a strain on finances, in the past we could at least turn to excellent schools as a demonstration of getting a bang for our buck. I personally put two kids through the entire public school system where I live from K-12 and was more than satisfied with the quality of their education (a few spasms of wokeness along the way notwithstanding). But in the past ten years New Jersey has tumbled from having the overall second-highest rated public schools in the country to twelfth. So, what then are we getting for shelling out property taxes — which for many homeowners here is tantamount to a second mortgage — that seem to go up 2% per year like clockwork?
Utility bills are another point of contention. In 2020 the average New Jersey household (median is harder to locate) paid a little over $91/month. As of mid-2025 the number has risen to $162/month. A 78% increase. Increased demand certainly has played a part as data centers, particularly for AI, have a voracious appetite for electricity … this at the same time Democrats have been trying to push consumers into EVs and using electricity as opposed to fossil fuels. Indeed, New Jersey has aggressive clean energy and decarbonization goals. While those are meant to reduce emissions in the long run, in the short run they can introduce costs — e.g. retiring fossil plants, investing in transmission upgrades, subsidies or mandates for renewables, and constraints on new fossil generation. 
 
The New Jersey Democrat Party&#8217;s platform supports &#8220;reducing fossil fuel dependence, expanding renewable energy, and protecting residents from its impacts.&#8221; Our current governor, Phil Murphy, has proposed a &#8220;100% clean energy goal&#8221; and has pushed &#8220;renewable energy&#8221; legislation.
<div id="attachment_988403" style="width: 778px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-988403" class="wp-image-988403 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2213896301-768x576.jpg" alt="RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - MAY 10: Jack Ciattarelli and Matt Servitto attend 2025 Paisan Con at The Williams Center on May 10, 2025 in Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Bobby Bank/Getty Images)" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2213896301-768x576.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2213896301-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2213896301.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" />RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY &#8211; MAY 10: Jack Ciattarelli and Matt Servitto attend 2025 Paisan Con at The Williams Center on May 10, 2025 in Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Bobby Bank/Getty Images)</div>
New Jersey also has among the highest individual income tax rates in the nation. At 10.8% for the states’ highest earners, it is only superseded by California, Hawaii, and New York. Ciattarelli proposes lowering the top-tier income tax rate to 5% as well as capping property taxes at a percentage of a home’s assessed value. He has also pledged to lower business taxes from 11.5% to 5% and make the first $100,000 in small business income tax-exempt. Businesses are leaving. And, to be frank, but for personal reasons keeping me here, I’d have moved my fund out of this state to more business-friendly environs (not coincidentally red states) years ago. I am not the only one. Of course, it will cost you 2% to leave the state if you sell your home … they get you coming and going here.
Then there are the costs of auto insurance, third highest in the country, and healthcare, which run 15%-20% over the national average. It goes on and on &#8230; and the middle class continues to get squeezed. 
 
Gov. Murphy, a Goldman Sachs alumnus, need not worry about these matters of course. But these are issues that New Jersey residents feel every day, every time the latest utility bill or property tax assessment comes in the mail. Issues that Sherrill especially, pitching for the incumbent party, must address. (Her most sensible policy proposal I have seen is an idea to combine school districts to reduce redundant costs. But she needs more.) Yet, when pressed directly in two separate debates whether she plans to raise taxes, she could not give a straight answer.
And that is part of Sherrill’s problem. She seems unable to answer questions in a manner akin to Kamala Harris, master chef at the word salad bar. In a May 4 interview with CBS New York’s Marcia Kramer, the congresswoman was asked what law she’d like to enact on day one if she became governor. The way Sherrill looked at Kramer you would have thought the woman asked her to tell the world her social security number and ATM pin code. “I would love — that’s a really good question, ‘cause there’s so many that are coming to mind right now.” After stalling for about 18 seconds, she finally offered a meek pitch for a federal block grant program to help the state with “key programs” including ones in the “health care area”. (A less friendly interviewer might have followed up by informing the congresswoman that she would have no control over such grants as governor.)
Sherrill is pushing the “girl boss” motif, leaning on her experience as a Naval aviator to offer a veneer of toughness to resist those who have driven out some of the state’s most valuable taxpayers and businesses. But the last time the GOP held a majority in either chamber of the New Jersey Legislature was 35 years ago. New Jersey is a Democrat-controlled state. So, what policies do we need her to defend us against? Her own party’s?
<div id="attachment_988401" style="width: 877px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-988401" class="wp-image-988401 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240039071-867x576.jpg" alt="CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY - OCTOBER 11: New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill tours the USS Battleship New Jersey as part of a campaign stop on October 11, 2025 in Camden, New Jersey. Sherrill is set to square off against Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli on November 4 for the position as New Jersey's 57th governor. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)" width="867" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240039071-867x576.jpg 867w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240039071-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240039071-768x510.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240039071.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 867px) 100vw, 867px" />CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY &#8211; OCTOBER 11: New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill tours the USS Battleship New Jersey. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)</div>
And this stain of de facto incumbency is about more than just party. Sherrill appears to be a graduate of the Nancy Pelosi School of Investing. Estimates vary, but her net worth, now roughly $10 million, grew significantly after she was elected to Congress. Ciattarelli has pounced on that, accusing her publicly of insider trading; she did indeed trade defense stocks while sitting on the House Armed Services Committee. Sherrill’s response to this accusation should be of little comfort to a DNC wishing to put behind them Hillary’s smug deflection of questions about wiping her private server clean (“you mean with a cloth?”) or Kamala’s “I haven’t been to Europe” debacle. Said Sherrill, “It’s not as if I go sit on the House Armed Services Committee and suddenly, I’m trading Boeing or something.” She was, in fact, fined for a reporting violation (not insider trading). Sherrill appears to be, to put it bluntly, another self-enriching DC “swamp” creature.
With that said, Ciattarelli certainly has some hurdles before him. He is running as a Republican in a state that has not voted Republican for President since 1988. Nor does New Jersey tend to vote for a GOP governor if there is also a Republican in the White House. But he also has some things in his favor. Locally, Murphy is finishing his second term, and not since 1965 has New Jersey given Democrats three gubernatorial terms in a row.
Sherrill has been trying to tap into the undercurrent of TDS I often see manifested in otherwise rational and intelligent people here by linking him to Trump. But how effective is that in 2025? As Ciattarelli has said: “The president has nothing to do with high property taxes or energy prices.” New Jerseyans may accept that. In 2016 and 2020 Donald Trump received 41% of the vote here. Last November that number climbed to 46%. And given the double-whammy of Trump’s successes so far — closing the border, ending wars, record-high stock markets, clamping down on urban crime, etc. — as well as the Democrat Party literally polling the lowest in a generation, it is no wonder that Democrats are looking to the New Jersey race with considerable disquiet.
Another, if anecdotal, bit of encouragement for Ciattarelli is that in my three decades in the Garden State I&#8217;ve noticed New Jerseyans are able to separate local and national politics. As one example from my own town, we had an off-year election in 2023 for four of the eight Town Council seats. Prior to then the make-up was seven Democrats and one Republican. After the election it was three Democrats, five Republicans. A GOP sweep. And this is in a zip code that nevertheless went 68% for Harris just a year later.
As with past elections, Democrats may be too reliant on optimistic polls, which consistently show Sherrill ahead. Even so, there are ominous signs in the numbers. The latest from Quinnipiac puts her at just 50% to Ciattarelli’s 44%. But as I have discussed with fellow conservatives in my town, no pollster ever calls us … or if they do we tend to not engage. It should be noted that a Rutgers-Eagleton poll in October 2024, less than a month before the election, showed Trump could expect just 35% of the Garden State to pull his lever. The actual result was, as stated, 11 points higher.
Barring a Sherrill blow-out, New Jersey is a “no-lose” scenario for the GOP. If Sherrill squeaks to a narrow win, well, it’s a blue state anyway. But if Ciattarelli somehow gets the nod, that would be a harbinger of bad things to come for the Democrats in the midterms. Who knows? For Ciattarelli, who has run for governor twice before, maybe third time’s the charm?
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities fund manager, author, and columnist whose articles have appeared on the pages of The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, The Daily Wire, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and other outlets. He is the author of three <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id=55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed">books</a>. You can also follow him on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/">Substack</a> and <a href="https://x.com/bschaeffer123">X</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.

Mikie Sherrill Campaigns For Governor Of New Jersey Ahead Of November’s Election

Could New Jersey Be A Bellwether Of GOP Fortunes? 

Conservatives

Democrats

Elections

governor

Liberals

New Jersey

Republicans

Taxes

U.S. Politics

A new report released last week by the global risk firm DNV <a href="https://www.dnv.com/eto2025/">projects</a> that AI electricity demand will grow tenfold over the next five years as a result of the rapid buildout of AI data centers. American families are already feeling the impact of this buildout as the cost of electricity has <a href="https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/">surged</a> nearly 7% over the last year.
As America fights to win the race for AI dominance — a race that will decide who the economic, military, and political leaders are for decades to come — a growing challenge looms: power. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-releases-new-report-evaluating-increase-electricity-demand-data-centers">projects</a> that data centers, the physical backbone of AI, will grow from consuming more than 4% of total U.S. electricity today to 12% by 2028. A survey conducted over the summer by <a href="https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/power-and-utilities/data-center-infrastructure-artificial-intelligence.html">Deloitte</a> of power companies and data center operators asked what the greatest challenges were they faced when it comes to building out data center infrastructure. Both groups named “power and grid capacity constraints meeting load growth” as the number one obstacle.
This urgent need for more power was one of the reasons that top officials from the U.S. and Israel gathered in Washington, D.C. this summer to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that put serious weight behind enhancing cooperation on all matters related to AI innovation. The MOU recognizes that as America deploys its unmatched industrial, financial, and technological power to win the AI race, it can amplify those efforts by harnessing Israel’s capacity for rapid innovation in energy systems, semiconductors, and industrial technologies.
President Donald Trump reaffirmed the strength of this alliance during his historic speech at the Knesset on Monday, following his success in securing the release of the remaining hostages.
“The state of Israel is strong and it will live and thrive forever,” Trump said. “And that is why Israel will always remain a vital ally of the United States of America. Israelis share our values, field one of the world&#8217;s most powerful militaries … and have one of the most innovative economies on earth.”
Despite being only the size of New Jersey, Israel has the highest concentration of high-tech companies in the world, ranks <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-investment-climate-statements/israel">fourth globally</a> in the number of NASDAQ-listed firms, and is home to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/majority-of-multinationals-operating-in-israel-see-limited-impact-from-hamas-war/">more than</a> 400 multinational corporations. According to Columbia Business School, Israel ranks <a href="https://courses.business.columbia.edu/B8693">number one</a> worldwide in R&amp;D spending, startup density, and venture investment per capita.
The reason for Israel’s success in innovation is simple: we have no other choice. Forged under the pressure that comes from living in an unforgiving geopolitical environment, Israel has had to learn how to innovate fast with limited natural resources to ensure our very survival. Over time, that environment has fostered what has evolved into one of the most effective deep-tech ecosystems in the world, fueled by elite IDF technology units, academic excellence, and a collaborative private sector that knows how to translate breakthrough ideas into global industries. 
That innovation has long powered the technological advancements that drive the U.S. economy to new heights. <a href="https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/what-is-rdma/">InfiniBand</a>, developed in Israel, became the networking fabric behind every ChatGPT query, while Israeli-designed custom microchips drive <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/amazon-ai-chips-supercomputer-aws-annapurna-trainium-a943be71">Amazon Web Services</a> and Google’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/the-israeli-startup-that-just-inked-the-largest-cybersecurity-deal-ever-5f0f6854">cybersecurity</a> infrastructure. SolarEdge, founded in Israel, revolutionized solar energy by making every panel more efficient and cost-effective.
In defense, Israeli technologies such as the Trophy Active Protection System safeguard American tanks on the battlefield, while tunnel-detection systems developed in Israel help secure the U.S. southern border.
To help keep Israel at the forefront of cutting-edge advancements in deep-tech, the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) recently launched a series of bold initiatives to turbocharge the country’s innovation capacity following the events of October 7. The more than $450 million investment from the IIA represents a structural shift in how Israel supports applied R&amp;D in physical technology. Beyond cyber and software, the IIA is now channeling unprecedented funding into energy systems, industrial automation, and data-center infrastructure. Reflecting this shift, global technology leaders are doubling down on Israel. NVIDIA recently announced plans to invest billions of dollars in a new R&amp;D campus and more than double its headcount, making Israel its largest foreign R&amp;D center.
This shift in investments from the IIA aligns directly with U.S. strategic priorities, as the need for America to win the race for AI dominance could not be clearer. The enemies of the West are increasingly working together to shift the balance of power in the world to one where communist China becomes the dominant global economic and military superpower. In that world, the U.S. would see slower economic growth, a decrease in high-paying jobs, a weakened dollar, inflation, trade rules set by authoritarian regimes, increased cyberattacks, and a surge in Chinese influence in Western media, academia, and technology. The rules-based international system that has underpinned global prosperity would erode, replaced by one governed through coercion and control.
By combining America’s scale and strategic vision with Israel’s speed and agility, both nations can co-develop the technologies that will define the next industrial era. From advanced energy storage and grid optimization to power electronics and automation, this partnership can create tens of thousands of jobs, strengthen supply chains, and reinforce the energy backbone that AI depends on. If the last century was defined by oil and manufacturing, the next will be defined by energy intelligence — the ability to power, process, and protect the digital world. Together, the United States and Israel can lead that transformation.
* * *
Amir Fishelov and Jonathan Bik are the co-founders of <a href="https://s1l.vc/">Square One Labs</a>, an Israeli venture creation platform and deep-tech incubator selected by the State of Israel to lead in the development of startups in energy, industrial automation, and data center infrastructure. Mr. Fishelov previously co-founded SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ: SEDG), a global leader in smart energy and the first Israeli company to be listed on the S&amp;P 500.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a>

Abstract AI Symbol Hovering Above Israeli Flag – Representing AI Innovation and Technology in Israel

How Israel Can Help America Win The Global AI Race

Business

Israel

Nvidia

Silicon Valley

The United States will help Ukraine locate key Russian energy infrastructure as the Trump administration weighs sending Ukraine weapons capable of reaching those targets.
President Donald Trump has approved intelligence sharing by the War Department and American intelligence agencies with Ukraine. The president is weighing taking U.S. assistance a step further, providing Ukraine with Tomahawk and Barracuda cruise missiles as well as other long-range weaponry, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/u-s-to-provide-ukraine-with-intelligence-for-missile-strikes-deep-inside-russia-ca7b2276">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
The move marks a first in U.S. policy toward Ukraine. The United States has never before aided Ukraine in targeting energy infrastructure deep inside Russia’s territory. The intelligence and potential long-range weapons could be used to strike refineries, pipelines, and other key structures aimed at crippling Moscow’s main source of income: oil and gas production.
The administration is pushing allies to step up aid to Ukraine, as well, requesting North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries provide similar support as the Trump administration seeks to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war.
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-246585">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a> 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently met with Trump in New York and requested that the United States supply Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles. Zelensky also said that Ukraine had Trump’s backing to target Russian energy infrastructure in retaliation for strikes on its own.
“If they attack our energy, President Trump support that we can answer on energy,” Zelensky <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/26/zelensky-ask-trump-tomahawk-missile-strike-russia">said</a> last week.
Trump last week announced a fresh perspective from the administration on the war. In a lengthy <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115255130298104593">post</a> on Truth Social, the president said that he now believes that with the proper assistance, Ukraine can “fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option,” the president wrote. “Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win.&#8221;
“This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger,’” he said.
Trump has reached out to Putin several times to compel negotiations to end the war with Ukraine. As Moscow has continued to stonewall or slowwalk talks, Trump has grown increasingly frustrated. In July, the president, during a cabinet meeting, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/07/08/trump-putin-bullshit-sanctions-ukraine">described</a> dealing with Putin in stark terms: “We get a lot of bulls*** thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He&#8217;s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
After a tense meeting with Zelensky at the White House in February, Washington’s relationship with Kyiv has steadily improved as Zelensky has agreed to many of the White House’s requests in its pursuit of a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump

Trump Admin To Give Ukraine Intel On Russia’s Energy Weak Spots

Trump Admin To Give Ukraine Intel On Russia's Energy Weak Spots

Putin

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

United States

Volodymyr Zelensky

Oklo, an advanced nuclear technology company, announced on Thursday plans to build a “first-of-its-kind” nuclear fuel recycling center.
The first phase of the project is expected to cost nearly $1.7 billion and create 800 jobs. The facility, to be built in Tennessee, will be the first privately-funded nuclear fuel recycling center.
“Fuel is the single most important factor in bringing advanced nuclear energy to market,” Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte said in a statement. “By recycling used nuclear fuel at an industrial scale, we are turning waste into watts, cutting costs, and establishing a secure U.S. supply chain that will accelerate deployment of clean, reliable, and affordable power. Tennessee is showing the nation that recycling can be done commercially.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright served on Oklo’s board of directors before being nominated to head the Department of Energy in the Trump administration.
The facility to be built will recycle used nuclear fuel, offering a potential solution to a divisive issue that has plagued the nuclear energy industry: how to dispose of spent fuel. Answers to the question have proven difficult, such as in the case of the <a href="https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/radiation/what-yucca-mountain-repository_.html">proposed</a> Yucca Mountain repository that has drawn strong opposition from local and state leaders in Nevada.
“The recycling facility will recover energy-bearing materials from used nuclear fuel to be fabricated into metallic fuel for fast reactors. Once used in a reactor, this process significantly reduces waste volumes for more economical, clean, and efficient disposal pathways,” the Oklo press release says.
The “metallic fuel” can be used the power fast reactors such as Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse, a zero-emission power plant that “only needs to be refueled once every decade (or longer),” according to <a href="https://oklo.com/energy/default.aspx">Oklo</a>. Maintenance on Aurora will take place more often, however.
&#8220;Everyone who wants American energy to be cleaner, more affordable, and more sustainable should be rejoicing today. Oklo&#8217;s program to turn Cold War-era plutonium into safe nuclear fuel for today — and tomorrow — is a bold and exciting achievement,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told The Daily Wire in a statement.
Oklo and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are looking at more opportunities to collaborate, such as Oklo handling nuclear fuel recycling for the TVA and building other facilities in the state.
Energy and Environment Legal Institute senior policy fellow Steve Milloy, who worked on the 2016 Trump transition team, credited President Donald Trump with the project’s success. Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/deploying-advanced-nuclear-reactor-technologies-for-national-security/">executive order</a> in May encouraging “the rapid development, deployment, and use of advanced nuclear technologies to support national security objectives.”
“President Trump’s leadership is the reason this breakthrough is happening. It’s telling that, even in the face of historic progress, anti-nuclear activists would rather tear down solutions than acknowledge success. This project offers the American people exactly what they deserve: affordable, reliable, and clean energy,” Milloy told The Daily Wire in a statement.

Jacob DeWitte

Red State To House ‘First-Of-Its-Kind’ Recycling Center For Used Nuclear Fuel

Department of Energy

Tennessee

Menu