Trump aids coal
President Trump plans $700 million support for struggling U.S. coal industry
President Trump is expected to announce $700 million in new support for the struggling U.S. coal industry on June 4, invoking a Cold War-era national defense law to keep 13 coal plants running across 10 states, according to AP. The move is part of Trump's broader "American Energy Dominance" agenda and marks the largest single infusion of federal cash into coal in years.
The funds will be split three ways: $425 million under the Defense Production Act to support existing plants, $185 million in grants to build two new plants and restart a third, and $75 million to construct a coal export terminal in Oakland, California, The Washington Times reported. The two new plants — one in Alaska and one in West Virginia — would be the first new coal plants built in the U.S. since 2013.
Cold War Defense Law Pressed Into Coal Service
The White House is using the Defense Production Act of 1950 — a law originally designed to direct factories to make military equipment — to funnel $425 million to 13 coal plants across states including West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Arizona. Framing coal as a national security issue gives Trump broad legal authority to spend the money without new congressional approval, according to Axios.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright has called coal the "MVP" of the grid during extreme weather, pointing to an Arctic blast in early 2026 when coal supplied 25% of the power grid's capacity, Latitude Media reported. The administration argues that the AI boom — which is projected to triple data center energy demand by 2035 — makes reliable baseload power a matter of national defense.
$185 Million Redirected Away From Carbon Capture
Critics note that $185 million of the new funding was originally set aside for carbon capture and storage projects under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The administration is now redirecting that money to build raw coal generation plants instead, according to Latitude Media.
Kit Kennedy of the NRDC called the plan "stuck in the past," comparing it to requiring Americans to "commute by horse and buggy," AP reported. The Sierra Club's Patrick Drupp called it a "reckless handout" to a "collapsing industry," warning that coal pollution already causes 6,500 premature deaths in the U.S. each year.
Oakland Export Terminal Reignites Decade-Long Fight
The plan includes $75 million to build the West Gateway coal export terminal in Oakland, California — designed to ship 12 million tons of coal per year to foreign markets. The Oaklandside reports that West Oakland residents have fought the terminal for over 10 years, and the federal grant is seen as an override of local environmental decisions.
Export prospects may already be dimming. Recent tariffs from China have cut demand for U.S. coal abroad, AP noted. U.S. coal production sat at 578 million short tons in 2023 — less than half of the 2008 peak of 1.17 billion tons — a decline driven by cheap natural gas and renewables.
White House Claims 14,000 Jobs and $50 Billion in Savings
The Trump administration says the package will create or protect 14,000 jobs in mining, rail, and construction, and save consumers up to $50 billion in energy costs, CBS News reported. A February 2026 Harris Poll found that 57% of Americans support keeping coal plants open longer to hold down costs, versus only 20% who oppose it, according to the National Mining Association.
Rich Nolan, president of the National Mining Association, praised the move for prioritizing grid reliability and "American energy abundance." But independent market analysts told Latitude Media that some targeted plants — including a 200-megawatt facility in Maryland — were already "extraordinarily uneconomic" before they shut down, raising questions about long-term viability.
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