Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin on Fox News on September 3, 2025

One of President Donald Trump's Cabinet officials is garnering widespread condemnation after suggesting that he's merely one of the president's foot soldiers.

During a Wednesday interview on Fox News, host Sandra Smith asked Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin about whether there would be any funding for any green energy projects during Trump's second term. Zeldin would only say that the EPA would obey the law. And when Smith pressed Zeldin on whether he personally supported funding green energy infrastructure, he deferred to the president.

"I am for whatever President Trump is advocating for, and President Trump has been very outspoken about his concern with the economics of offshore wind," Zeldin said. "And he wants to ramp up more baseload power. America needs so much more baseload power than will be delivered with that attitude that wind is the substitute and is the answer for all. It's just not accurate."

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Zeldin's comment prompted derision from both liberals and conservatives alike. Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) — who has formally changed his party affiliation to Democrat — responded to the video of Zeldin by tweeting: "It is a cult." Air Force Colonel Moe Davis (Ret.), a Democrat who is running for Congress in North Carolina, simply wondered why Zeldin was being paid to lead an agency.

"Seriously, why are we paying the salaries of members of Congress and their staffs if they just do whatever Trump tells them to do?" Davis wrote. "It’s fraud, waste, and abuse paying someone to perform duties prescribed by the Constitution when he tells you he’s just going to do as he’s told."

"Why even have a Cabinet?" Author Chris Katje wrote on X. "Why doesn't Trump just run every position since he controls the thinking for all of them?"

"Hi I'm @leezeldin, Trump prostitute," tweeted former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann.

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Watch the video of Zeldin's comments below, or by clicking this link.