Ecofeminism: How Trump’s War on Mother Nature Upholds the Patriarchy

Image via The Washington Post

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On October 5th, an Arizona ‘grandmother’ cottonwood tree nearly as old as the United States was bulldozed to clear the path for the construction of Donald Trump’s border wall. Protestors staged a ‘tree-sit’ in late July and remained for 70 days, but federal agents forcibly removed and arrested them just before excavating the tree. 

This attack on nature is nothing new for the Trump administration. Despite claiming to ‘Make America Beautiful Again,’ Trump has sought to erode the work that national parks do, such as preserving natural lands. In September of this year, the Trump Administration blocked $25 million worth of funding for national park projects. For Joshua Tree National Park in California, this meant losing the funds to prepare for wildfires and restore burned areas. 

Trump has also systematically removed protections for public lands and dismantled conservation efforts. In June 2025, the Roadless Rule–which protected national forests from timbering and the construction of roads–was repealed. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was also targeted by Trump. One expected rule the administration will implement bars newly listed endangered species from automatically receiving protections from killing and trapping. 

Trump’s changes to the ESA not only highlight his anti-nature agenda, but his push to resurrect fossil fuel extraction. In the face of the decline of coal, many of its proponents assail environmental regulations and protections (such as those laid out in the ESA) as the cause of the decline in U.S. coal dependency. In keeping with this line of thinking, Trump moved to exempt any oil-and-gas activities from complying with ESA guidelines, claiming that such action would allow the United States to reap the benefits of fossil fuels and “unleash American energy.”

This notion is misguided. Removing the perceived roadblock of environmental regulations may open the door to nonrenewable energy, but not to economic prosperity. Coal is simply not as lucrative as it used to be, given that solar and wind power are cheaper than fossil fuels, and oil is becoming increasingly less profitable.

However, Trump stands firm, attacking green energy in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” by removing almost $550 billion in funding for clean energy projects and tax credits for renewable energy endeavors. This situation begs the question: if fossil fuels are not exceptionally profitable, why does Trump promote their extraction and, as a result, the degradation of the environment?

Part of Trump’s insistence on extractivism can be understood through the lens of ecofeminism. Ecofeminism analyzes the ways in which men in patriarchal societies interact with nature. In this framework, extractivism and the destruction of nature mirror the patriarchy’s mistreatment and domination of women. The feminization of the natural world through ideas like ‘Mother Nature’ is particularly illustrative of how environmental destruction and exploitation are tied to the patriarchy’s violence toward women. 

Trump continuously upholds the patriarchy, so it is not unreasonable to claim that his exploitation of Mother Nature is another facet of these efforts. In the same “One Big Beautiful Bill” that defunded renewable energy, he defunded access to reproductive and pregnancy-related healthcare. Thus, his assault on the environment and women’s rights are institutionally linked. More broadly, Trump’s track record of objectifying women as well as his banning of DEI stand to revive the patriarchal norms and structures that then manifest as environmental abuse. 

From the felling of the ‘grandmother’ tree in Arizona to the ambition to “drill, baby, drill,” Trump has launched a campaign against Mother Nature in the same way that he targets women. His stubborn focus on extraction and disregard for the environment illuminate and are fed by his allegiance to the patriarchy. 

This blatant disregard for nature does not come without consequences. As several of the integral measures of Earth’s climatic health are currently at record extremes, Mother Nature is fighting back with a booming ferocity in 2026. Trump has set himself up against a formidable opponent and is pushing Mother Earth to her tipping point, just as he expands the bounds of the patriarchy. 

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This article was edited by Andrew Kravatz and Anna Marin.