OAN Staff Jenna Lee and Sophia Flores
6:23 PM – Thursday, June 4, 2026
President Donald Trump has unveiled a $700 million federal infrastructure package to modernize domestic coal plants and build the nation’s first new coal-fired facilities in over a decade.
This expansive federal intervention, which Trump revealed on Thursday, relies on the 1950 Defense Production Act to grant the administration emergency authority to directly subsidize 13 existing plants across 10 states. By pairing these funds with Department of Energy grants, the administration intends to break ground on facilities in Alaska and West Virginia, effectively ending a 13-year drought in domestic coal plant construction.
“Today, we’re taking historic action to bring down the price of energy and the cost of living for all Americans with the power of clean, beautiful coal. Today, we’re taking historic action to bring down the price of energy and the cost of living for all Americans with the power of clean, beautiful coal. If you look at some of the real great failures, countries, they’re using wind,” said Trump from the Oval Office, where he announced the new funding initiative.
Trump has long advocated for expanding domestic fossil fuel production. Since returning to office in 2025, he has sought to accelerate oil, gas, and mining projects while opening additional areas for drilling. His administration has also extended the operating lives of fossil-fuel power plants in Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, and Washington beyond their planned retirement dates.
This push comes as coal power use in the U.S. has been steadily declining since its 2007 peak due to market shifts toward cheaper natural gas and renewable energy sources, now generating less than one-fifth of U.S. electricity.
“As a result of the $700 million investment that I’m announcing today, we will protect 14 coal plants and 42 coal mines — it’s a tremendous number — and build two new coal plants and one massive new export terminal, because we’re exporting coal,” Trump emphasized.
According to White House data, the $700 million capital allocation is structured into three distinct tiers:
- $425 million in Defense Production Act funds to modernize operational infrastructure across a 10-state footprint, including West Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana.
- $200 million in Department of Energy grants to bankroll the two new regional plants and finance the restart of a dormant facility in Maryland.
- $75 million to break ground this summer on a contested maritime coal export terminal in Oakland, California. It is set to be operational by summer 2028.
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