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WASHINGTON 鈥� A federal judge ruled Monday that a nearly complete offshore wind project halted by the Trump administration can resume, dealing the president a setback in his ongoing effort to restrict the fledgling industry.

Work on the Revolution Wind project for Rhode Island and Connecticut聽was paused Aug. 22,聽when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop-work order for what it said were national security concerns. The Interior Department agency did not specify those concerns at the time. Both the聽developer and the two states sued聽in federal courts.

Danish energy company Orsted and its joint venture partner, Skyborn Renewables, sought a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court that would allow them to move the project forward.

At a hearing Monday, Judge Royce Lamberth said he considered how Revolution Wind has relied on its federal approval, the delays are costing $2.3 million per day and if the project can’t meet deadlines, the entire enterprise could collapse. After December, the specialized ship needed to complete the project won’t be available until at least 2028, he said. More than 1,000 people have been working on the wind farm, which is 80 percent complete.

鈥淭here is no question in my mind of irreparable harm to the plaintiffs,鈥� Lamberth said, as he granted the motion for the preliminary injunction. In his written ruling, he said Revolution Wind had 鈥渄emonstrated likelihood of success on the merits鈥� of its claim, adding that granting the injunction is in the public interest.

Interior Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Peace said the ruling means Revolution Wind 鈥渨ill be able to resume construction鈥� while the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 鈥渃ontinues its investigation into possible impacts by the project to national security and prevention of other uses on the Outer Continental Shelf.鈥�

The administration said in a court filing this month that while BOEM approved the wind farm, it stipulated that the developer continue to work with the Defense Department to mitigate national security concerns. It said the Interior Department, to date, has not received any information that these concerns have been addressed.

Orsted said Monday that construction will resume as soon as possible, and it will continue to seek to work collaboratively with the administration.

Nancy Pyne of the Sierra Club said the court ruling 鈥渞eaffirms that Donald Trump and his administration’s attacks on clean energy are not only reckless and harmful to our communities, but they are also illegal.鈥� Trump is trying to 鈥渒neecap鈥� renewable energy 鈥渋n favor of dirty and expensive fossil fuels,鈥� she said.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump was elected with a mandate to 鈥渞estore our country’s energy dominance 鈥� which includes prioritizing the most effective and reliable tools to power our country. This will not be the final say on the matter.鈥�

On the campaign trail,聽Trump vowed to end the offshore wind industry聽as soon as he returned to the White House. He has said he wants to boost production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal for the U.S. to have the lowest-cost energy and electricity of any nation in the world.

The Trump administration has聽stopped construction on major offshore wind farms, revoked wind energy permits and聽paused permitting, canceled plans to use聽large areas of federal waters聽for new offshore wind development, and stopped聽$679 million in federal funding聽for a dozen offshore wind projects.

Last week, the administration moved to block a聽separate Massachusetts offshore wind farm. That was just days after the Interior Department asked a federal judge in Baltimore to cancel previous approval for construction of an offshore wind project in Maryland.

Revolution Wind is supposed to be Rhode Island’s and Connecticut’s first large offshore wind farm 鈥� capable of supplying power to more than 350,000 homes. The complex is expected to meet about 2.5 percent of the region’s electricity needs.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, both Democrats, called the judge’s ruling a major win for workers and families, who need the project to stay on track so it can start to drive down unaffordable energy bills.

Connecticut Rep. Joe Courtney, a Democrat, said a multibillion-dollar project that is 80 percent complete and was fully permitted with input from the Pentagon is not a national security problem. The Interior Department 鈥渟hould take the hint and let the thousands of construction workers finish the job,鈥� he said.

Orsted began construction in 2024 about 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast. It says in its complaint that about $5 billion has been spent or committed, and it expects more than $1 billion in costs if the project is canceled. Rhode Island is already home to the five-turbine, offshore Block Island Wind Farm.

Editor’s note: McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. AP writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut contributed to this report.