President Donald Trump touted his political strength in approving the contentious Dakota Access Pipeline during a speech in Cincinnati, Ohio Wednesday.
“I’m pleased to announce that the Dakota Access Pipeline … is now officially open for business, a $3.8 billion investment in American infrastructure that was stalled and nobody thought any politician would have the guts to approve that final leg,” Trump said.
“I just close my eyes and said ‘do it.'”
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The pipeline started delivering oil in May, after years of protracted battles between environmental groups and regulators. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe claimed the pipeline would destroy sacred burial grounds and could pollute water on the reservation.
Thousands of protestors joined Native American activists camped along the site of one piece of the pipeline trying to block the approval, but Trump rapidly finalized the pipeline project after his inauguration in January.
Trump focused his speech Wednesday on his plan to invest $200 billion in American infrastructure, referencing big development projects like the Panama Canal, the Transcontinental rail road, and the interstate highway system.
“We don’t do that anymore. We really don’t,” Trump said. “We don’t even fix them anymore.”
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