The gap between the US and the rest of the world on offshore wind has widened into a chasm. While Europe and Asia are expanding auctions, the Trump administration has spent 2026 systematically paying developers to walk away from federal offshore wind leases entirely. The buyout pattern. In March 2026, the administration reached an agreement with French energy company TotalEnergies to cancel its offshore wind leases in the New York Bight and Carolina Long Bay regions — the US refunded $928 million in lease fees, and TotalEnergies agreed to invest an equivalent sum into fossil fuel production in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, while pledging not to develop any new US offshore wind projects.