Donald Trump: ‘I haven’t had one call’ complaining about Dakota Access Pipeline

The US Army Corps will allow Energy Transfer Partners to complete the project

President Donald Trump said he would make Mexico reimburse American taxpayers for the cost of the wall (Andrew Harrer/Pool/Getty)

President Trump recently signed two executive orders reviving both the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. And now he’s telling reporters that he hasn’t received any negative phone calls regarding the projects.

“As you know I approved two pipelines that were stuck in limbo forever. I don’t even think it was controversial. You know, I approved them and I haven’t even heard one call from anybody saying, ‘oh, that was a terrible thing you did,’” he told members of the media on Tuesday.

“You know, usually, if I do something it's like bedlam, right? I haven't had one call from anybody,” he continued, promising that the Keystone project would create up to 30,000 jobs. In reality, the State Department found that the project would create up to 42,000 jobs that will last for one to two years. The department also found that the project would only create 35 permanent jobs.

“As you know, I did the Dakota pipeline and nobody called up to complain,” he continued, “because it was unfair. Years of getting approvals, nobody showed up to fight it. This company spends a tremendous — hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, and then all of a sudden, people show up to fight it. It's not fair to our companies. And I think everyone is going to be happy in the end, okay?”

In a court filing, the US Army Corps said on Tuesday that it would allow Energy Transfer Partners to move forward with the project.

The Sioux Standing Rock Tribe has vehemently opposed the pipeline, citing the risk it poses to its water supply and affecting nearly 17 million people living downstream, a concern that inspired month-long protests against the project. The pipeline would run under the Missouri River just one mile away from the reservation.

Meanwhile, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe issued a statement saying it was “undaunted in its commitment to challenge an easement announcement by the US Department of the Army for the Dakota Access Pipeline.”

“The Obama administration correctly found that the Tribe’s treaty rights needed to be acknowledged and protected, and that the easement should not be granted without further review and consideration of alternative crossing locations,” attorney Jan Hasselman said in a statement. “Trump’s reversal of that decision continues a historic pattern of broken promises to Indian Tribes and unlawful violation of Treaty rights. They will be held accountable in court.”

“Americans have come together in support of the Tribe asking for a fair, balanced and lawful pipeline process,“ Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said in a statement.

”The environmental impact statement was wrongfully terminated. This pipeline was unfairly rerouted across our treaty lands. The Trump administration — yet again — is poised to set a precedent that defies the law and the will of Americans and our allies around the world.”