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Trump Reportedly Plans to Invoke Cold War Authority to Boost US Coal With $700 Million

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US President Donald Trump plans to invoke the Defense Production Act to fund US coal infrastructure with nearly $700 million, several media outlets reported on Wednesday.

More than half of the allocation is earmarked directly for critical structural upgrades across 13 existing coal-fired plants, the reports said. The funding will also target critical logistical bottlenecks across the domestic supply chain.

The Cold War emergency measure aims to secure baseline power for data centers and secures the grid against energy supply disruption risks.

The administration is scrambling to meet the massive baseline electricity demands of power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers, while simultaneously seeking to insulate the domestic grid from foreign supply chains.

Coal's share of domestic power generation has plummeted from more than half of total US electricity to less than one-fifth in recent years, heavily undercut by cheaper natural gas and accelerating renewable assets, according to Reuters, citing the US Energy Information Administration.

The White House did not respond immediately torequest for comments.

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