WASHINGTON — In his first few days on the job, President Trump had a lot to say about energy pipelines. He wanted them built and, true to his America First philosophy, he wanted them built with domestic steel.

“It’s going to put a lot of workers, a lot of steelworkers, back to work,” Trump declared from the Oval Office as he revived the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines — reversing decisions made by Barack Obama. “You will see a level of quality that you’re not going to see when they bring pipe from far distances,” Trump told a GOP congressional retreat.

But scrutiny of Trump’s demand shows that his simple-sounding “Buy American” sloganeering runs headlong into actual economic conditions, legal barriers, and basic requirements of governing.

Industry analysts say the idea of forcing the Keystone and Dakota pipelines to be made from American steel is, well, a pipe dream. The Dakota pipeline is almost complete, so its developers don’t need to buy much, if any, additional pipe.