by Sharon Rondeau
(Jun. 4, 2026) — In a live address from the Oval Office Thursday afternoon aimed at touting the value of new coal-producing initiatives, Trump urged the Senate to pass the “Save America” Act which would require all voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship and photo identification to participate in federal elections.
Introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) in late January, the bill acquired dozens of co-sponsors by mid-April.
Trump pointed out that the House of Representatives passed the Act several times, while the Senate has floundered.
“Some day,” Trump said, Congress will comply with his desire to pass and send it to his desk for signature.
He indicated he is invoking “wartime powers” to “save” languishing coal plants with a $700 million investment which will create thousands of additional jobs and bring down the cost of electricity.
Flanked by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright and others, Trump said the states most directly impacted by the investment include New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Ohio, West Virginia and others. The “new technology” to be utilized, he said, is “very clean.”
He mentioned that one of his predecessors demonstrated an aversion to coal, customarily invoking the full name, “Barack Hussein Obama.”
At 3:41 p.m. EDT, Burgum said “public land” will be used to increase U.S. energy production. The administration plans to eventually export coal, he said, to parts of the world in need of it.
A “National Garden of American Heroes” and “Triumphal Arc” are to be erected in Washington, DC, Trump said following Burgum’s remarks. The latter, he said, was planned for construction but halted by the American Civil War.
He spoke about other projects he hopes to see unfold in the nation’s capital.
The McMillan Plan, Burgum said, “envisioned this connection” between a “circle” in which the arc was intended to be built and the Lincoln Memorial, with a pedestrian bridge leading to the Potomac River.
Trump has taken pride in reducing crime in Washington, Burgum reminded the audience.
“With clean, beautiful coal,” Wright said, the nation’s current infrastructure would not exist, faulting the Obama regime for having hobbled it. Without coal, Wright said, steel and other building materials would not exist.
“Seventeen coal plants were not closed in 2025 because of President Trump sitting in this position,” Wright said. “President Trump is the president with the courage and the boldness” to expand the coal industry, Wright said.
“We are going to reindustrialize America,” he enthusiastically said at the conclusion of his remarks.
Zeldin faulted the Biden regime for having told coal-miners facing unemployment to “learn to code.” He said he was “honored” to be part of the Trump administration and its emphasis on energy production.
Montana Governor Mark Gordon said his state will be expanding his state’s coal production to Asian markets in the near future and thanked Trump for making it possible.
Standing to Gordon’s left was West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrissey, who said he is “very excited by everything you’re doing…it’s all making a big difference for West Virginia, so thank you.”
At 3:58 p.m., Trump opened the presser to reporters’ questions.
One question dealt with Trump’s choice, announced Monday, of FHFA Administrator Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence (DNI) given the impending departure of DNI Tulsi Gabbard.
Some in the media have questioned Pulte’s qualifications.
Pulte will be strictly “temporary,” Trump said, and serve only until a “permanent” director is confirmed. In passing, he said during the time he serves, Pulte “might find out some things about rigged elections.”
A question about negotiations with Iran in the wake of a tumultuous “ceasefire” prompted Trump to say the rogue nation, which was reportedly developing a nuclear weapon, has been virtually destroyed.
He commented that the California primary elections held on Tuesday should be “watched” carefully in the wake of reports that the final vote counts will not be available for approximately another week.
More questions followed on Iran. “We’re going to win one way or another,” he said, “militarily” or otherwise.