Trump plans $700 million boost for coal industry

President Trump is expected to announce $700 million in federal support for coal plants and related energy infrastructure Thursday, using emergency industrial powers to steer money toward existing facilities, new projects and a coal export terminal.

The announcement is planned for an Oval Office event titled “Beautiful, Clean Coal,” a White House official confirmed to CBS News after Bloomberg first reported details of the plan. Trump is expected to invoke the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law that gives the president emergency authority over domestic industries, to distribute the funding.

The plan includes $75 million for a new coal export terminal in Oakland, California, and $425 million to support 13 existing coal plants across 10 states: West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Trump is also expected to announce nearly $200 million in Department of Energy grants to build two new coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia and restart a coal plant in Maryland.

The facilities in Alaska and West Virginia would be the first new coal plants built in the United States since 2013, according to CBS News.

A White House official said the initiative will create thousands of jobs for miners, railroad workers, engineers and construction workers and save consumers $50 billion in energy generation costs. The Guardian reported that Thursday’s White House event will feature supportive governors and lawmakers from coal-rich states, including Wyoming and West Virginia.

Trump has repeatedly promoted coal as part of a broader push to expand U.S. fossil fuel production. Since returning to the presidency in 2025, he has moved to expedite oil and mining projects, open new drilling sites and reduce investment in renewable energy, CBS News reported. The Guardian reported that his administration has also provided hundreds of millions of dollars to the coal industry, signed orders requiring ratepayers to help keep aging plants operating and dismantled environmental rules limiting toxins from coal pollution.

“I have a little standing order in the White House – never use the word ‘coal’,” Trump said in a speech to the United Nations last year, according to The Guardian. “Only use the words ‘clean, beautiful coal’.”

Environmental groups criticized the new aid package. “It is disgusting and reprehensible that the president of the United States is giving away our taxpayer dollars to deadly and expensive coal plants that will make Americans sicker and drive up electricity prices even more,” said Patrick Drupp, climate policy director of the Sierra Club. “This handout betrays everything Donald Trump promised and only serves his big coal buddies who stroke his ego and hand him shiny trophies.”

Kit Kennedy, a senior climate campaigner at the Natural Resources Defense Council, also opposed the plan. “What’s next, a taxpayer bailout to build new phone booths?” Kennedy said. “This is going to mean higher bills and dirtier air. What a waste.”

Coal industry representatives welcomed the move, saying coal is needed as electricity demand rises, including from the artificial intelligence sector. “Coal generation shields consumers from the impacts of volatile energy prices and supply challenges,” said Rich Nolan, chief executive of the National Mining Association. He said coal remains a “vital piece of a sound energy strategy designed to meet the challenge of today’s AI-driven demand growth in the context of the conflict in the Middle East.”

The Guardian reported that U.S. coal production is now less than half its 2008 level, while coal employment has fallen by more than 90% over the past century. It also cited research estimating that as many as 460,000 deaths in the United States between 1999 and 2020 were attributable to air pollution from coal plants alone.