Image: The Craig Station power complex in northwest Colorado has three coal-fired units. Its operators planned to retire one unit at the end of 2025, and built wind and solar farms to replace it. But the Trump administration has ordered the unit to stay open and available for now. Hart Van Denburg/CPR News

President Trump ran for office promising to restore a future for coal in the U.S. He now has new hardware confirming his status as a top industry ally: a trophy hailing him as the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal.”

Trump received the statue — a bronze coal miner bearing a pickax — from an industry lobbying group earlier this month, just before signing an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Defense to purchase additional electricity from coal plants.

“We’re going to be buying a lot of coal through the military now,” Trump said. “It’s going to be less expensive and actually much more effective than what we have been using for many, many years.”

The order marks the Trump administration’s latest move to boost the coal industry. Over the last two decades, utilities have closed hundreds of coal-fired power plants in favor of cheaper options like wind, solar and natural gas. The shift has cut U.S. carbon emissions and air pollution.

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