U.S. President Donald Trump on the 11th (local time) claimed he had reached trade agreements to expand U.S. coal exports with Korea and other countries.
At an event at the White House that day on revitalizing the U.S. coal industry, President Trump said, "Over the past few months, we have made historic trade agreements with Japan, Korea, India and other countries to dramatically increase our coal exports," adding, "We are now exporting coal around the world."
It is the first time President Trump has mentioned U.S. coal exports in connection with a trade deal with Korea. In July last year, after meeting with Korea's trade negotiation delegation, President Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social announcing a U.S.-Korea trade deal that "Korea agreed to purchase $100 billion worth of (U.S.) liquefied natural gas (LNG) or other energy products," prompting speculation that coal may be included among the other energy products.
At the event, President Trump said, "Coal is important to national security and essential to everything from steel production to shipbuilding and artificial intelligence (AI)," adding, "What is happening in the coal industry is remarkable, and it is also remarkable that we can keep coal very clean with new technologies."
He repeatedly referred to coal as "Clean Beautiful coal," calling it "the most dependable and reliable energy."
President Trump also criticized the closure of coal-fired power plants under the previous Joe Biden administration as "a disastrous path," emphasizing that although there were no approvals for coal mining projects during the four years of the Biden administration, "in just one year of the Trump administration we have already approved more than 70 coal mines."
In particular, he said he had signed an executive order directing the Ministry of National Defense to enter into power purchase agreements with coal-fired power plants and new power providers. President Trump said this would lead "the military to purchase a substantial amount of coal, and it will be far cheaper and more effective."