Donald Trump was awarded the title of 'undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal' during a White House ceremony on Wednesday, where he received a bronze trophy depicting a coalminer. The award was presented by James Grech, CEO of Peabody Energy, the largest coal company in the US, on behalf of the Washington Coal Club, an advocacy group with financial ties to the coal industry.
The ceremony coincided with Trump signing an executive order directing the Pentagon to secure long-term power purchase agreements with 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 at the event, attended by over a dozen coal executives and miners, as well as Republican lawmakers and cabinet members including EPA administrator Lee Zeldin and interior secretary Doug Burgum.
Trump also announced $175m in Department of Energy funding for six projects to 'modernize, retrofit and extend' coal-fired power plants in rural communities in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and Kentucky. This is the latest action in the administration's effort to revive the US coal industry, following September's announcement to open 13.1m acres of public land to coal mining and provide $625m for coal plants.
Coal, the most polluting and costly fossil fuel, has declined sharply in the US. According to the Energy Information Administration, US coal production in 2023 was less than half of its 2008 level, and coal plants generated only about 15% of US electricity in 2024, down from roughly 50% in 2000.
The award adds to a series of honours Trump has received since the start of his second term, including the 'Fifa peace prize' from Gianni Infantino and a gold Rolex desk clock from Swiss billionaires.
