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Fri, 05 Jun 2026

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 Trump announces $700m coal investment using wartime powers

The president is directing money into coal as the Iran war drives up energy costs for Americans.

* US President Donald Trump has announced plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to revive the country's coal industry.
* The investment aims to protect 14 existing coal plants and 42 mines, while building two new coal plants and one massive export terminal.
* $500m will be allocated from federal funds to save existing coal plants and build a new export terminal in California, while an additional $200m will be granted by the Department of Energy to build new coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia.
* Trump claims that this investment will create over 14,000 jobs and save American consumers around $50bn in energy generation costs.
* The plan is made possible through the Defense Production Act, a law granting the President broad authority to support industries vital to national security.
* Trump argues that successful countries rely on coal, and criticizes "failure countries" for investing in renewable energy sources.