President Trump announced nearly $700 million in funding for the coal industry during a White House ceremony where he received a trophy from the Washington Coal Club, an advocacy group with ties to the coal industry. Trump described the move as historic action to bring down energy prices and the cost of living for Americans.
The funding package includes $175 million from the Department of Energy allocated to six projects designed to modernize, retrofit and extend the life of coal-fired power plants serving rural and remote communities in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and Kentucky. The remainder comes from wartime authority powers that Trump has directed toward securing long-term power purchase agreements between the Defense Department and coal plants.
At the ceremony, James Grech, CEO of Peabody Energy, the largest coal company in the US, presented Trump with a bronze trophy depicting a coal miner. "We stand here today representing the thousands of coal miners across the country to express our deep gratitude to you, sir, for the actions you have taken to support our industry," Grech said. More than a dozen coal executives and miners attended the event, along with several Republican lawmakers and cabinet members including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Trump signed an executive order directing the Defense Department to purchase power from coal plants for military installations and other mission-critical facilities. "We're going to be buying a lot of coal through the military now," Trump said. "We're lifting up our hard-working American miners like nobody has ever done before."
This announcement represents the latest effort by the Trump administration to revive the US coal industry. In September, the White House announced it would open 13.1 million acres of public land to coal mining and provide $625 million for coal-fired power plants.
Coal has declined significantly as an energy source in the United States over recent decades. According to the Energy Information Administration, US coal production in 2023 was less than half its 2008 level, and coal plants generated only about 15 percent of US electricity in 2024, down from roughly 50 percent in 2000. Coal is considered the most polluting and costly fossil fuel.
Trump has repeatedly expressed support for coal as an energy source throughout his presidency. The award ceremony adds to a series of honors and gifts the president has received from business leaders and officials since the start of his second term, including recognition from FIFA and gifts from Swiss billionaires and Apple's CEO.