President Donald Trump was presented with a bronze trophy naming him the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal” during a White House event on Wednesday, Feb. 11. The ceremony coincided with his signing of an executive order instructing the Pentagon to buy electricity generated by coal-fired plants and announcing $175 million in federal funding aimed at prolonging the lifespan of aging coal facilities.
Jim Grech, CEO of Peabody Energy, awarded Trump the first-ever trophy from the Washington Coal Club, an advocacy group with financial links to the coal sector. The award showcases a bronze coal miner.
Grech told Trump that thousands of coal miners nationwide wished to show their appreciation for his backing of the industry. The East Room was filled with more than a dozen coal executives and miners wearing hard hats.
In front of the gathered audience, Trump signed the executive order directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Energy Secretary Chris Wright to pursue long-term agreements for electricity from coal plants to support military bases and critical operations.
“We’re going to be buying a lot of coal through the military now,” Trump said during the ceremony, highlighting American energy exports and praising miners as workers whom “nobody has ever” supported more than his administration.
At the same time, the Department of Energy revealed plans to distribute $175 million in funding for six initiatives focused on updating, retrofitting, and extending the operation of coal-fired plants in remote and rural regions across West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, and Kentucky.
Several Republican leaders and cabinet officials attended, among them 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 present.
The executive order is the Trump administration’s newest move to revive the faltering coal industry, which has seen steep losses over the last 30 years. Coal made up about 50 percent of U.S. electricity production in 2000 but fell to around 16 percent by 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration. Coal output in 2023 was less than half of what it was in 2008.
Previously, the administration opened 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal mining and provided $625 million to coal-fired plants in September. Trump has also ordered the EPA to overturn the Obama-era “endangerment finding,” which labeled greenhouse gases as threats to public health and has been the legal foundation for climate regulations since 2009.
During his remarks, Trump addressed coal’s reputation issues, saying he now refuses to mention coal without including the phrase “beautiful, clean”—a marketing shift he argues the sector urgently needs.
Kayla Blackford, who operates haul trucks at Bear Run Mine in Dugger, Indiana, spoke on behalf of miners nationwide. “We are real people under these hard hats,” she said, thanking Trump for acknowledging the importance of coal and the workforce behind it.
Emily Arthun, CEO of the American Coal Council, applauded the administration’s efforts, describing the event as “a meaningful moment for coal communities across America.”
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey praised the funding and executive order as “a major win for West Virginia workers, West Virginia communities, and every American who depends on affordable, reliable electricity.”
Carrying out the Pentagon’s directive to buy coal-generated power may face hurdles, including transmission limitations and uncertainties over how contracts with coal plant owners will be designed. Analysts pointed out that the military relies on hundreds of bases that currently draw electricity from utility companies and grid operators, making a shift to coal-specific contracts complicated.
The executive order sharply contrasts with President Joe Biden’s 2021 mandate for the federal government to switch to carbon-free electricity, a directive Trump rescinded upon taking office in January 2025.
Social media users widely mocked the trophy presentation, with many suggesting it was simply another attempt to hand the president a “participation trophy.”
Environmental Defense Fund Action questioned whether groups were “just making up awards now,” while many others likened the recognition to Trump’s recent FIFA Peace Prize—another first-time award created exclusively for him.
Tech entrepreneur Gissur Simonarson remarked, “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 pointed out the irony of Republicans celebrating what one commenter labeled a “participation trophy president,” despite years of decrying participation trophies for children.
The term “clean coal” also drew scorn, with critics dismissing it as an “oxymoron” comparable to “silent noise.”
A few commenters even wondered whether coal industry figures were “trolling Trump” by giving him an award tied to an energy source broadly viewed as harmful to the environment. The backlash went further than the award itself, as users also circulated clips from Trump’s speech at the event that seemed to show the 79-year-old president stumbling over words while calling himself the “undisputed champion of beautiful, clean coal.”
