Trump invokes emergency powers to invest $700 million in coal

Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times on Jun 4, 2026

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President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will invoke Cold War-era emergency powers to direct a nearly $700 million investment into the waning coal industry, including construction of a new West Coast coal export terminal in Oakland.

Speaking from the White House, Trump said he will use the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law that grants the president emergency authority over domestic industries deemed critical to national security, to construct a new export terminal on the West Coast to move supplies overseas.

He also announced the upgrading of 13 existing coal plants across the country, the construction of two new coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia, and restarting a shuttered coal plant in Maryland.

“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,” Trump said. He was joined by U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency administration Lee Zeldin and other top officials.

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