Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. returned to a Government House podium Monday following a trip to Washington, D.C., where he discussed his administration’s federal policy goals and partnerships, including a restart to the refinery and the re-extension of the rum cover-over rate.
Reporters who attended Monday’s briefing virtually were unable to ask questions due to a technical issue with the administration’s call-in system, but in a phone call with the Source afterward Bryan said he was confident that the Trump administration’s attempted freeze has not impacted the territory’s billions of dollars in federal disaster recovery or federal grants and funds.
“I’m pretty committed, and part of that confidence really is, it’s $23 billion,” Bryan said. “It’ll take us way past the Trump administration to expend those funds. And [the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department ] — we got an extension on the [disaster recovery] funds in December, so they extended until 2029.”
Bryan said the Trump administration made clear its intention to divest from offshore wind energy before noting that funds earmarked for the territory have “escalators” to compensate for expected inflation.
“So I mean, I got two more years of Trump, and … we — the nation has four more years of him,” he said. “So I think … we’ll be able to weather this.”
During the briefing, Bryan announced that — after pursuing legal action — the Virgin Islands government will take back control of the Randall “Doc” James Race Track on St. Croix from developer VIGL operations.
“This is an important step,” he said. “It gives us the ability to explore solutions that will bring horse racing back to the big island of St. Croix in a way that is sustainable and beneficial for our community.”
Bryan has long expressed vexation with VIGL over a perceived lack of progress on the race track, lambasting the developer during his 2024 State of the Territory Address and announcing legal action against them during his 2025 State of the Territory Address.
Bryan also took time to address rising tensions between the territory and the British Virgin Islands following his suggestion that the U.S. Virgin Islands should levy tariffs against its neighboring territory. That suggestion was made in response to a measure under consideration in the BVI that would substantially increase fees for yacht charters — a move local charter boat operators fiercely decried. In a press conference Friday, BVI Premier Natalio Wheatley said the neighboring territory won’t be bullied by “Trump-style tariffs.”
On Monday, Bryan said he will be meeting with Wheatley on Friday to have “an open and candid conversation about proposed increases” on U.S. Virgin Islands charter boat operations.
“Let me be clear: my intent, yesterday and today and always, has been to find an amicable solution — one that is fair and equitable to both of our economic interests,” he said. “I do not engage in diplomacy through headlines, but we have had this conversation over and over again with the BVI. Up to last year, we met, we decided that things would change. A year has gone by — no change.”
