President Donald Trump speaks during a “Beautiful, Clean Coal” event in the Oval Office of the White House on June 4, 2026 in Washington, DC Behind him (left to right) are West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. (Photo courtesy of West Virginia Governor’s Office Patrick Morrisey)
The federal government will spend $700 million to build or rehabilitate coal-fired power infrastructure across the country to advance “clean, beautiful coal,” President Donald Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office.
Trump said he was invoking the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, which gives the president authority over domestic industries to save 13 existing power plants and build two fresh ones. He said the move would save 14,000 coal jobs and reduce energy costs, although the spending would not reduce the price of gasoline or diesel fuel, which has skyrocketed since Trump launched a war with Iran in February.
Trump criticized wind power subsidies advocated by Democrats, including his predecessor Joe Biden, and called coal the most vital energy source to cultivate.
“It’s real power,” Trump said. “Performance-wise, there’s really nothing like it. We have so many different alternatives. When you talk about some, there’s no real alternative.”
New coal-fired power plants are being built in Alaska and West Virginia, Trump said. A shuttered plant in Maryland would also be restarted. These projects would be funded with $200 million in Department of Energy grants.
According to the White House, coal-fired power plants are located in West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Wisconsin, which will receive a total of $425 million in Defense Production Act funds.
According to the White House, coal mines that will benefit from the move are in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wyoming, North Dakota and New Mexico.
The administration would also spend $75 million authorized by the Defense Production Act to support the opening of a long-delayed fresh coal export terminal in Oakland, California, the White House said.
Administration officials said Thursday’s announcement builds on a record over the past 18 months in which the government has rescued dozens of coal production facilities.
“It’s hard to overstate the magnitude of this development,” said Energy Minister Chris Wright. “If you look at our efforts across government, there are 45 coal-fired power plants operating so far today that would not otherwise be operating.”
Republican approval
Members of the Trump Cabinet, Republican congressmen and two governors, Mark Gordon of Wyoming and Patrick Morrissey of West Virginia, joined Trump in the Oval Office announcement, with several emphasizing the importance of the coal industry after Trump’s speech.
Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin praised Trump for his actions to support the industry and reorient federal energy policy away from renewable energy.
Wright said Democratic policies are more responsible for high energy costs than the war in Iran, even though Republicans have held unified control of the federal government since January 2025 and the Trump administration has consistently touted its moves to boost fossil fuel production.
“We wish they were lower, but gas prices in the U.S. are a little over $4. In Europe they’re $10, in Asia they’re higher and in California they’re very high,” Wright said. The national average price for regular gasoline was $4.24 a gallon on Thursday.
“The bigger threat to energy prices in the United States is Democratic green energy policies,” Wright continued. “They have driven up energy prices far more than a conflict in Iran.”
Burgum said the president may be the strongest supporter of coal in the country’s history.
He echoed Trump’s statements that the coal industry needs to be reinvigorated after the Biden administration’s increased focus on renewable energy production.
“The previous Biden administration went so far in using heavily subsidized, intermittent, weather-dependent power sources that our grid was at risk. You understood that and you understood how important coal is,” Burgum told Trump. “It is the backbone of affordable, reliable and secure American energy that powers our country and our grid, strengthens our competitiveness in AI, and fuels all the manufacturing that comes back.”
Morrissey said the moves would benefit his state.
“We believe your policies will enable America to compete and win,” Morrissey said. “West Virginia will provide the coal, gas and nuclear power to help make that happen. So I’m very excited about everything you’re doing.”
Greens criticize “handouts for polluters”
Environmental groups criticized the move, saying it propped up a failing industry and would have little long-term impact on energy prices or reliability.
Jesse Lee, a senior adviser at the advocacy group Climate Power, said spending on coal projects would not reduce energy prices, which he said rose 18% during Trump’s second term.
“He is putting pressure on the American people by claiming that this move will lower electricity prices amid an energy affordability crisis of his own making,” Lee said.
Environmental groups noted that the coal industry was a major contributor to Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Several environmental activists, including Lena Moffitt, the executive director of the climate group Evergreen Action, suggested that this relationship led Trump to promote coal at the expense of renewable energy sources.
“Spending $700 million to save the coal industry is like throwing a lifeline to a ship that has already sunk,” Moffitt wrote. “Trump gives tax money to coal barons and leaves us with nothing but higher energy costs. … There is no coal revival on the horizon – just polluters collecting handouts while their friends run the White House and Americans foot the bill.”
