During a White House event on Wednesday, Feb. 11, President Donald Trump received a bronze trophy naming him the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal.” The presentation took place as he signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to purchase electricity from coal-powered facilities and unveiled $175 million in federal funds aimed at extending the life of older coal plants.
Jim Grech, CEO of Peabody Energy, presented Trump with the inaugural trophy from the Washington Coal Club, a pro-coal organization financially connected to the industry. The award features a bronze miner.
Grech told Trump that thousands of miners across the country wanted to express their gratitude for his support. The East Room included more than a dozen mining executives and miners outfitted in hard hats.
In front of the audience, Trump signed the executive order instructing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Energy Secretary Chris Wright to negotiate long-term arrangements for coal-generated electricity to power military installations and essential operations.
“We’re going to be buying a lot of coal through the military now,” Trump remarked, emphasizing U.S. energy exports and describing miners as workers whose contributions his administration has backed more than any other.
Simultaneously, the Department of Energy announced plans to allocate $175 million in funding toward six projects meant to modernize, retrofit, and extend the operation of coal plants in rural and isolated areas of West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, and Kentucky.
Several Republican lawmakers and cabinet officials attended, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, Senator Jim Justice of West Virginia, and Senator Marsha Blackburn were also in attendance.
The executive order marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to bolster the declining coal sector, which has endured severe downturns over the past three decades. Coal provided about 50 percent of U.S. electricity in 2000 but dropped to roughly 16 percent by 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration. Coal production in 2023 was less than half of its 2008 levels.
Earlier actions by the administration opened 13.1 million acres of federal land to coal mining and gave $625 million to coal-burning plants in September. Trump has also instructed the EPA to overturn the Obama-era “endangerment finding,” which designated greenhouse gases as harmful to public health and has served as the basis for climate regulations since 2009.
In his remarks, Trump addressed coal’s image problems, noting that he now refuses to reference coal without adding the words “beautiful, clean,” a branding approach he claims the industry urgently requires.
Kayla Blackford, a haul truck operator at Bear Run Mine in Dugger, Indiana, spoke on behalf of miners nationwide. “We are real people under these hard hats,” she said, expressing gratitude to Trump for recognizing the value of coal and the people who work in the industry.
Emily Arthun, CEO of the American Coal Council, praised the administration’s initiatives, calling the event “a meaningful moment for coal communities across America.”
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey hailed the new funding and executive order as “a major win for West Virginia workers, West Virginia communities, and every American who depends on affordable, reliable electricity.”
Implementing the Pentagon’s mandate to purchase coal-generated power could face obstacles, such as transmission constraints and uncertainty about how contracts with coal plant operators will be crafted. Analysts noted that the military relies on hundreds of bases that currently receive power from utility companies and grid operators, making any transition to coal-specific contracts difficult.
The executive order stands in stark contrast to President Joe Biden’s 2021 policy requiring the federal government to use carbon-free electricity, a directive Trump revoked when he took office in January 2025.
Social media users ridiculed the award ceremony, with many claiming it was another example of giving the president a “participation trophy.”
Environmental Defense Fund Action questioned whether organizations were “just making up awards now,” and others compared the accolade to Trump’s recent FIFA Peace Prize—another first-time award created solely for him.
Tech entrepreneur Gissur Simonarson commented, “It’s amazing that this doesn’t embarrass him,” adding that “People feel like they now need to give him some kind of worthless trophy to win his favor.”
Some observers highlighted the irony of Republicans celebrating what one person called a “participation trophy president,” despite years of criticizing participation trophies for children.
The term “clean coal” also drew mockery, with critics dismissing it as an “oxymoron” on par with “silent noise.”
A few commenters even questioned whether coal industry leaders were “trolling Trump” by presenting him with an award associated with an energy source widely seen as environmentally harmful. Others shared clips from Trump’s speech at the event that appeared to show the 79-year-old president stumbling over words while declaring himself the “undisputed champion of beautiful, clean coal.”