Trump signs executive orders aimed at boosting the coal industry – US politics live

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published this evening, senator Mitch McConnell criticized Donald Trump’s executive order focused on election security. The Kentucky Republican and former Senate majority leader argues that the order is an instance of federal overreach on states’ powers.

“Elections may have national consequences but the power to conduct them rests in state capitols,” McConnell wrote.

He warns that “even a targeted federal mandate to strengthen election integrity today could make it easier for a future Democratic president and Congress to use more sweeping mandates to carry out a complete federal takeover of American elections.”

A federal judge has ruled that the White House’s decision to block the Associated Press from its press pool is unconstitutional.

“Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists—be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere—it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints,” US District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, wrote. “The Constitution requires no less.”

The ruling comes nearly two months after the White House first barred an AP reporter from the Oval Office over the outlet’s decision to continue using the term “Gulf of Mexico” after Donald Trump issued an executive order renaming the body of water the “Gulf of America”.

The government has a week to respond to the ruling.

Now that Donald Trump’s executive order signing ceremony has concluded, we’re turning our focus back to the other news of the day – including the state of the stock market just under a week since Trump ordered sweeping tariffs on the United States’s global trading partners.

Wall Street closed today on another day of falling stocks, after US markets opened at higher levels this morning. The S&P fell 1.6%, wiping out an earlier gain of 4.1%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones lost 0.84% and the Nasdaq composite dropped 2.1%.

During his speech, Trump addressed criticism of his tariff policy, saying that the United States is making $2bn a day in tariffs. He added that Japan and South Korea are sending representatives to the US to make a deal to avoid the tariffs Trump has levied against them.

“America is going to be very rich again very soon,” he said.

Donald Trump has signed four executive orders on coal.

The first directs all departments and agencies to “end all discriminatory policies against the coal industry” including by ending the leasing moratorium on coal on federal land and accelerate all permitted funding for coal projects.

The second imposes a moratorium on the “unscientific and unrealistic policies enacted by the Biden administration” to protect coal power plants currently operating.

The third promotes “grid security and reliability” by ensuring that grid policies are focused on “secure and effective energy production” as opposed to “woke” policies that “discriminate against secure sources of power like coal and other fossil fuels”.

And the fourth instructs the justice department to “vigorously pursue and investigate” the “unconstitutional” policies of “radically leftist states” that “discriminate against coal”.

Donald Trump has been joined on stage by a West Virginia coal miner, named Jeff Crow, and Tony Campbell of the East Kentucky Power Cooperative. Both applauded Trump for lowering regulations on coal.

Donald Trump is now criticizing the Green New Deal and saying that climate change will create more “waterfront property”.

Donald Trump adds that “as part of our historic deregulatory efforts” today, his executive order will grant “immediate regulatory relief to 47 counties operating 66 coal plants” across the country.

Trump says he’s directed energy secretary Chris Wright to save the Cholla Power Plant – located near the Navajo Nation’s capitol in Window Rock, Arizona, “which has been slated for destruction”.

Donald Trump is now discussing the wildfires that devastated southern California in January, returning to a debate he’s continued with California governor Gavin Newsom about water access in the state’s Central valley.

Trump is now discussing his mass deportations of Venezuelan migrants, thanking El Salvador for accepting the 238 Venezuelans he deported last month.

He also addressed court challenges to the deportations: “We’ve been forunately winning those cases, but we have judges that are out of control,” he said.

Donald Trump has turned to addressing criticism of his tariff policy, saying that the United States is making $2bn a day in tariffs. He adds that Japan and South Korea are sending representatives to the US to make a deal to avoid the tariffs Trump has levied against them.

“America is going to be very rich again very soon,” he said.

Donald Trump says his executive order on coal will also direct the federal government to “fight unconstitutional state or local regulations” on coal.

Trump says his executive order will also direct energy secretary Chris Wright to “use billions of dollars in federal funding to invest in the future of coal technology”.

Donald Trump is highlighting the power of coal in achieving his economic goals.

“The value of untapped coal in our country is one hundred times greater than all the gold in Fort Knox,” Trump says. “And we’re going to unleash it to make America rich and powerful again.”

He later added, that coal will play an important role in “making America the mineral superpower of the world”.

Donald Trump says his executive order will include a legal guarantee that a “radical far-left” president could not overturn his order on coal in the future. He did not include specific details on what that would be.

Donald Trump says he will sign an executive order “that slashes unnecessary regulations that targeted the beautiful, clean coal”.

He adds that the US “will rapidly expedite leases for coal mining on federal lands”, “streamline permitting”, “end the government bias against coal”, and use the Defense Production Act “to turbocharge coal mining in America”.

Donald Trump has called the Paris Climate accords a “scam to take money away from the United States”.

Trump withdrew the US from the global environmental agreement during his first week in office.

Donald Trump is applauding the coal industry, and criticizing Democratic leaders for turning away from it as a form of energy – while saying China has turned toward it.

“For years, people would just bemoan this industry,” he said. “It’s one of the great, great forms of energy.”

He described visiting West Virginia during his campaign, a state where he won 70% of the vote, where he says Democrats put “thousands of thousands of coal miners out of work”.

“China opened two coal plants every single week,” while Democratic leaders like Joe Biden turned away from coal, he says.

Donald Trump is speaking now about the importance of energy for American dominance, describing a battle with China for AI supremacy.