President Donald Trump convened an Oval Office gathering of cabinet secretaries, governors, and congressional representatives on June 4, 2026, to announce a sweeping $700 million investment in the U.S. coal industry — including funds to upgrade 13 existing coal plants, build two new ones, and construct a long-delayed coal export terminal in Oakland, California — all backed by the Cold War-era Defense Production Act. Trump framed the move as essential to keeping electricity affordable and reliable, and invoked January’s Winter Storm Fern as Exhibit A for why coal remains indispensable. The meeting ranged well beyond coal, covering the SAVE America Act’s election-integrity provisions, Iran cease-fire diplomacy, Trump’s surprise appointment of housing official Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence, Venezuelan oil, Cuban policy, Black unemployment, auto industry deregulation, a planned Lincoln Memorial promenade, and the New York Knicks. Assistance from Claude AI.
Participants
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Donald Trump | President of the United States |
| Doug Burgum | Secretary of the Interior |
| Chris Wright | Secretary of Energy |
| Lee Zeldin | Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Mark Gordon | Governor of Wyoming |
| Patrick Morrisey | Governor of West Virginia |
| Andy Barr | U.S. Representative (R-KY-6) |
| Dan Meuser | U.S. Representative (R-PA-9) |
| Riley Moore | U.S. Representative (R-WV-2) |
| Derrick Van Orden | U.S. Representative (R-WI-3) |
| Juan Ciscomani | U.S. Representative (R-AZ-6) |
| Jarrod Agen | Executive Director, National Energy Dominance Council |
| Unidentified | White House press pool |
Breakdown by Topic
The Core Announcement: $700 Million for Coal Under the Defense Production Act
Trump opened the substantive portion of the gathering by describing what he called “historic action to bring down the price of energy and the cost of living for all Americans with the power of clean, beautiful coal.” That last phrase is a deliberate administration brand — Trump joked that nobody in his White House is “allowed to say coal” without preceding it with “clean, beautiful.”
The $700 million investment, as confirmed by DOE disclosures released the same day, breaks down as follows:
$425 million via the Defense Production Act goes to upgrade 13 existing coal-fired power plants in ten states: West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Arizona, Arkansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Defense Production Act (DPA) is a 1950 Korean War-era law granting presidents broad authority to direct domestic industrial production when national security is at stake. This ranks among the most expansive uses of DPA authority for a domestic fossil fuel industry in the law’s history.
$185 million in DOE grants will fund two brand-new coal plants — one in Alaska, one in West Virginia — and restart a shuttered facility in Maryland.
$75 million goes toward the West Gateway Terminal in Oakland, California, a coal export project stalled for over a decade.
Trump said the investments will “support over 14,000 jobs and save the American people $50 billion in electricity costs.”
🔍 FACT CHECK — UNVERIFIABLE: The 14,000-jobs and $50-billion-savings figures are projections from the Trump administration. They have not been independently validated by the Congressional Budget Office, GAO, or other nonpartisan bodies. Critics, including Climate Power and the Natural Resources Defense Council, dispute the savings claim, arguing the investments will raise rather than lower electricity rates (Climate Power, 2026; Natural Resources Defense Council, 2026).
The Defense Production Act: Why It’s Being Invoked
For general readers: the DPA was enacted during the Korean War to let the president direct private industry — ordering factories to make military equipment, for example. It has been used more broadly over the decades for everything from medical supplies during COVID to semiconductor manufacturing. Invoking it here lets the Trump administration channel federal money to coal plants and declare coal a matter of national security, bypassing the ordinary congressional appropriations process.
Trump said the DPA investments allow coal plant owners to make upgrades that “extend their operational lives for decades into the future” and “reinforce the reliability of our electric grid.”
He also said the total number of coal plants saved during his second administration now exceeds 40.
🔍 FACT CHECK — APPROXIMATELY ACCURATE WITH CONTEXT: A DOE tweet issued the same day said the administration had “saved 43 coal plants” since January 2025. Energy Secretary Wright said in the meeting that “45 coal plants are open today that would not be open.” The slight discrepancy (43 vs. 45) likely reflects different accounting methods applied at different points in the day (U.S. Department of Energy, 2026).
West Gateway Export Terminal: Coal Heading to Asia
One of the most geographically striking aspects of the announcement is siting a coal export terminal in Oakland, California — a deep-blue city in a state that has been one of the most aggressive in pursuing clean energy mandates. Trump said construction will break ground this summer and the terminal will be fully operational — exporting over 12 million tons of coal per year — by summer 2028.
Trump said the project had been “delayed over 10 years” with Biden and Obama blocking it.
🔍 FACT CHECK — APPROXIMATELY ACCURATE: The Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal project has faced legal and permitting battles since approximately 2012–2013, making the decade-plus delay characterization accurate. The DOE’s project selection documents confirm an initial throughput target of 9–10 million tons, scaling to 12 million tons annually, with a completion target of end-2028 (U.S. Department of Energy, 2026). The terminal will be located on the former Oakland Army Base, operated by developer Phil Tagami, and will load Panamax-class bulk carrier vessels via direct Class 1 rail access.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon gave the terminal its most compelling endorsement. He had just returned from trade missions to Japan and Taiwan, where both countries — despite earlier pledges to phase out coal — said they need Wyoming’s low-sulfur Powder River Basin coal for energy security. “To be able to open that Oakland port is absolutely essential for the lifeblood of our state and our coal mines,” Gordon said.
Gordon also noted that companies like Peabody Energy are now exploring whether coal operations can yield rare earth minerals and critical minerals as a byproduct — framing coal not just as an energy source but as a materials supply chain asset.
“Green New Scam” Funds Repurposed for New Coal
Trump announced that nearly $200 million previously earmarked for what he called “the green new scam” is being redirected to restart the Maryland coal plant and help build the Alaska and West Virginia plants.
Context for general readers: There is no enacted law called the “Green New Deal.” Trump almost certainly refers to unspent or redirectable funds from Biden-era clean energy legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act or other DOE grant programs. The administration has been redirecting such funds throughout 2025–2026. The two new coal plants Trump described would be “the first new coal plants to open in our country since 2013.”
🔍 FACT CHECK — APPROXIMATELY ACCURATE ON TIMELINE: Industry tracking and EIA records confirm that no major new coal plants came online in the United States between 2013 and this administration’s announced investments — making the “first since 2013” claim credible (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2025).
U.S. Energy Production Claims
Trump asserted that the U.S. “right now” produces more energy than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined — effectively “double” any other country.
🔍 FACT CHECK — MISLEADING: This claim requires significant qualification. For crude oil specifically, the U.S. produced 13.58 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2025 — the world’s single largest individual producer — but well below Russia (9.87 mb/d) and Saudi Arabia (9.51 mb/d) combined (19.38 mb/d). The U.S. only exceeds the Russia-plus-Saudi-Arabia total when adding natural gas liquids, refinery gain adjustments, and other byproducts — reaching approximately 23.6 mb/d versus 21.7 mb/d, a slim margin. This expansive definition is not the standard used for most oil production comparisons, and PolitiFact reviewed the same claim in April 2026, finding it required “important caveats” (PolitiFact, 2026; U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2025).
China Coal and Wind Claims
Trump said “China, by the way, last year, built 52 coal plants. They built about two windmills.” He characterized China’s wind construction as a cynical sales strategy — building turbines to sell to “stupid people from the United States” rather than using them domestically.
🔍 FACT CHECK — APPROXIMATELY ACCURATE ON COAL, FALSE ON WIND: On the coal figure: Yale E360 reported that “more than 50 large coal-fired power plants were commissioned in China” in 2025, placing Trump’s “52” figure within the credible range (Yale E360, 2026; Carbon Brief, 2026). However, the characterization that China builds wind only to export is factually false. China installed over 250 gigawatts of new wind and solar capacity in 2025 alone, making it by far the world’s largest builder of renewable energy. China is simultaneously building coal plants for reliability backup and renewables for new demand — not forgoing domestic wind while selling turbines abroad (Carbon Brief, 2026).
Secretary Burgum’s Remarks: Interior’s Coal Actions
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum offered a systematic account of his department’s coal actions, framing them against what he described as the Biden administration’s near-destruction of grid reliability through over-reliance on “highly subsidized, intermittent, weather-dependent” electricity sources.
Burgum said that under Biden, there were “zero coal leases held in four years” on federal public lands. Under Trump, the Interior Department has issued 76 coal mining permits — some approved in “less than one month under emergency procedures,” compared to multi-year timelines under prior rules. Interior has also opened 13.1 million acres of public land for new coal leasing.
Context for general readers: Federal public lands — which include much of Wyoming, Montana, and other western states — hold enormous coal reserves. The government owns the mineral rights and leases them to private companies for extraction. Under Biden, a moratorium on new federal coal leasing effectively halted new mining on those lands.
Burgum also announced that the U.S. Geological Survey has designated metallurgical coal as a critical mineral.
Context: Metallurgical coal (also called coking coal) is used in steel and cement production, not electricity generation. Listing it as a “critical mineral” opens federal funding streams and strategic priority designations previously reserved for things like lithium and cobalt. It’s a meaningful policy distinction — and a deliberate effort to protect an industrial input that environmental regulations had also been targeting.
Burgum closed by praising the National Energy Dominance Council, a White House-level body he said is the first of its kind in American history, operated by Executive Director Jarrod Agen and coordinating energy actions across Interior, Energy, and EPA.
Secretary Wright’s Remarks: The Grid Reliability Argument and Winter Storm Fern
Energy Secretary Chris Wright delivered the most substantive and data-driven remarks of the event, anchored by a dramatic account of January’s Winter Storm Fern.
Wright opened bluntly: “No coal, no modern world.” He argued that coal “has been the largest source of global electricity for 125 years in a row” and that the U.S. would not have its industrial base, steel industry, or electricity grid without coal’s historic contribution.
He then made a central claim that structured the administration’s entire rationale: had Trump not kept those 17 coal plants open in 2025, hundreds of Americans would have died during Winter Storm Fern.
🔍 FACT CHECK ON WINTER STORM FERN — APPROXIMATELY ACCURATE WITH CONTEXT: Winter Storm Fern struck the eastern and central U.S. in mid-to-late January 2026. The EIA confirmed that coal generation rose 31% during the storm’s peak week and supplied 21% of all U.S. electricity — during a period when wind generation dropped and solar was effectively absent (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2026). At least 153 storm-related deaths were confirmed nationally, primarily from hypothermia. The grid largely held: approximately one million people lost power during Fern, compared to 4.5 million in Texas alone during Storm Uri in 2021 (Energy Central, 2026; U.S. Department of Energy, 2026). Wright’s claim that coal saved lives is directionally supported by available data; the specific “hundreds would have died” projection is counterfactual and unprovable, though not implausible given Uri’s death toll comparisons.
🔍 FACT CHECK ON STORM URI — APPROXIMATELY ACCURATE WITH CONTEXT: Wright said “over 300 people died” in Storm Uri. Texas officially confirmed approximately 246 direct deaths; national estimates accounting for indirect causes range to 700 or more. “Over 300” falls within the range of credible national estimates (Canary Media, 2026; Butke et al., 2022).
Wright also noted that the $700 million in government funding is “matched with $1.7 billion of private investment from the owners and operators of those plants” — framing the federal expenditure as a catalyst, not a subsidy. He credited the One Big Beautiful Bill (the Republicans’ major reconciliation legislation) with providing the DPA funding authority underpinning today’s investments.
Wright argued that the bigger threat to electricity prices isn’t the Iran conflict — it’s “Democratic green energy policies” at both the federal and state level, which he said have “driven up energy prices far more than a conflict in Iran.”
Administrator Zeldin’s Remarks: EPA at “Trump Speed”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin framed the coal announcement in personal terms: “For so many Americans, clean, beautiful coal is their source of heat, of energy, of warmth, of a job, an economy, a community, a family.” He criticized the prior EPA for piling on “regulation after regulation” trying to “strangle out of existence” the coal industry.
Zeldin said Trump directed EPA to act at “Trump speed” — the fastest possible regulatory rollback. Later in the meeting, discussing the auto industry, he provided specifics:
The administration sent three Biden-era EPA waivers for California to Congress; Congress passed them and Trump signed them, eliminating the electric vehicle mandate that several states had adopted. Trump separately announced the “largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States” — the repeal of the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding on greenhouse gases, which had been the legal foundation for all vehicle emission standards.
Zeldin said the repeal of greenhouse gas emission standards for light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles translates to $2,400 less per vehicle for American consumers.
🔍 FACT CHECK — UNVERIFIABLE AS CONSUMER SAVINGS: The $2,400-per-vehicle figure comes from the administration’s own regulatory impact projections. Whether that reduction in compliance costs translates to lower sticker prices depends on how much automakers pass savings through to buyers versus retaining them as profit — a question economists have not settled (Congressional Budget Office, no independent score available).
Zeldin also referenced what he called a consumer “gift” — the elimination of the automatic engine start-stop feature in new cars, which had been mandated as a fuel-economy measure.
Governor Gordon (Wyoming): Asian Markets and Powder River Basin Coal
Governor Mark Gordon gave the most internationally forward-looking remarks. His recent trade missions to Japan and Taiwan revealed that both countries, despite prior pledges to phase out coal, now want Wyoming’s low-sulfur Powder River Basin coal for energy security. Neither can get coal as clean anywhere else, he said.
Gordon pushed back against environmental critics by inviting a visit to reclaimed mining sites in the Powder River Basin, arguing wildlife populations “thrive and do better” on reclaimed land. He referenced earlier Trump-era attempts to use the Commerce Clause to force West Coast ports to accept coal shipments and said the administration now has stronger tools.
Governor Morrisey (West Virginia): Energy State Identity
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey called his state “America’s energy state” and expressed deep gratitude to Trump for protecting coal jobs. He framed West Virginia’s coal, natural gas, and nuclear resources as weapons in America’s competition with China over AI and information technology supremacy.
When Trump mentioned renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” Morrisey quipped, “Just a little more” — after Trump said Wyoming voters may even be more pro-Trump than West Virginia’s.
National Mall Beautification: Three Projects Trump Previewed as Breaking News
In a segment Trump described as “a little breaking news,” he and Burgum discussed three D.C. beautification projects moving forward:
The Lincoln Memorial Promenade. Trump revealed that the original design called for the memorial’s current rear — facing the Potomac River — to be the front. Two highways built after the memorial was completed cut off the original waterfront connection. Trump plans to build a pedestrian promenade over both highways, completing the original vision of what Burgum described as the McMillan Plan — the early 1900s blueprint for the National Mall’s design.
A Triumphal Arch. A monument circle near the Arlington Memorial Bridge has sat empty since the Civil War era. Trump plans to build a triumphal arch there, inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Burgum noted that President Macron supports the comparison and that the Arc de Triomphe draws more visitors than the Eiffel Tower.
The National Garden of American Heroes. An executive order project Trump has pursued since his first term, now moving toward implementation under the Interior Department.
SAVE America Act and Election Integrity
Trump used the meeting to promote the SAVE America Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility), describing its key provisions: mandatory photo ID to vote, documentary proof of citizenship to register, and restrictions on mail-in voting with exceptions for illness, disability, military service, and travel. He called photo ID support “about 99/1.”
🔍 FACT CHECK — MISLEADING ON POLLING: Gallup polling shows 84% of Americans support requiring photo ID to vote — including 67% of Democrats, 84% of independents, and 98% of Republicans. A separate question on citizenship proof for registration polls at 83% support. These numbers represent strong majorities, but they are far from the “99 to 1” or “99 percent” Trump cited repeatedly (Gallup, 2026; The White House, 2026). Opponents note that over 21 million Americans lack ready access to qualifying citizenship documents, with people of color disproportionately represented in that group (Brennan Center for Justice, 2026).
🔍 FACT CHECK ON BILL STATUS — ACCURATE: The SAVE America Act passed the House 218-213 on February 11, 2026, and is currently being debated in the Senate as of June 2026 (Congress.gov, 2026).
Trump also highlighted separate policies as “best-of Trump” achievements: the prohibition on transgender surgery for minors and the ban on male athletes competing in women’s sports. These are separate executive orders and legislation, not provisions of the SAVE America Act.
Trump repeated his claim that the 2020 election was stolen and that California’s ongoing vote count is evidence of ongoing election rigging. He said the 2024 election was “too big to rig.”
Press Q&A: Ukraine and Russia
A reporter said Zelensky had written to Putin proposing a direct meeting, noting Trump was “too busy with the war in Iran” to mediate. Trump said he didn’t know about such a meeting but would be glad if the two leaders met — crediting his administration with facilitating the possibility.
When pressed on what compromises he had suggested to both sides, Trump declined: “I’d rather not say.” He said roughly 25,000 soldiers are dying monthly and repeated his view that the war must end: “They’re going to both make compromises. I suggested those compromises.”
Press Q&A: The $250 Trump Bill
A reporter asked whether Trump had seen a mock-up of a proposed $250 bill bearing his likeness. Trump said he had seen one “about two days ago,” that he was “honored” by supporters’ enthusiasm, and joked he would “probably leave it” rather than spend it as a tip.
Press Q&A: Bill Pulte as Acting Director of National Intelligence
A reporter asked Trump why Bill Pulte — director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — is the right person to serve as acting DNI, noting pushback from some Senate Republicans.
Trump praised Pulte as “very smart” with “high integrity,” citing his work at Fannie and Freddie. He said the position is temporary — “not permanent” — and that he is already interviewing permanent candidates. He hinted Pulte might “find out some things about the rigged elections.”
🔍 FACT CHECK — MISLEADING: The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which created the DNI position in the wake of 9/11 intelligence failures, requires that any individual nominated have “extensive national security expertise.” Pulte, a wealthy businessman and real estate entrepreneur, has no demonstrated intelligence or national security background. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said publicly: “We don’t need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there.” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said he saw “no evidence of his qualifications.” The appointment bypasses Senate confirmation by using the acting-officer designation (NPR, 2026; CBS News, 2026; CNBC, 2026).
Context: Pulte will simultaneously maintain his FHFA role and his Fannie/Freddie chairmanship while serving as the nation’s top intelligence official — overseeing all 18 intelligence agencies including the CIA and NSA.
When asked about Pulte’s national security qualifications specifically, Trump cited his own example: “I wasn’t greatly experienced in national security and I think I’ve done a really great job with it.” He then claimed to have “ended eight wars, and soon to be a ninth.”
🔍 FACT CHECK — MISLEADING: The “ended eight wars” claim has appeared repeatedly in Trump’s public statements. Independent analysts and fact-checkers have consistently found it requires creative accounting of what constitutes a “war” and who deserves credit for its resolution (Associated Press Fact Check, 2026).
Press Q&A: Nuclear Energy and Small Modular Reactors
A reporter referenced an earlier trip with Secretary Wright to see a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) on the West Coast and asked about progress. Wright said: “Our electricity grid essentially runs on gas, coal, and nuclear — those are the three key sources.” He said all three will grow during this administration and teased a “big announcement in the nuclear space” to be released later that same day.
Press Q&A: Wind Energy Subsidies
Trump doubled down on wind energy skepticism, saying “wind is the most expensive form of energy” and that “windmills kill millions and millions of birds a year.”
Burgum confirmed that wind energy subsidies have been eliminated through the reconciliation bill: “Since the subsidies have gone away, there’s virtually no one — particularly offshore — trying to build one of those projects in America.”
🔍 FACT CHECK — MISLEADING ON BOTH CLAIMS: On cost: According to Lazard’s widely cited Levelized Cost of Energy analysis, utility-scale onshore wind ($26–75/MWh) and solar ($24–96/MWh) are now among the cheapest sources of new electricity generation on an unsubsidized basis — generally cheaper than new coal ($65–152/MWh). The reliability and grid integration arguments Trump makes have merit (backup power costs money), but the flat claim that wind is “the most expensive” is inaccurate by standard LCOE methodology. On bird deaths: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and peer-reviewed studies estimate that wind turbines kill approximately 140,000 to 500,000 birds annually in the United States — a real ecological concern, but far below “millions and millions” (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 2022; Loss et al., 2013).
Press Q&A: Strait of Hormuz and European Allies
When asked whether Trump wanted European allies to help in the Strait of Hormuz, he dismissed the idea: “We don’t need their help.” He said NATO and other allies were invited to participate in operations and all declined. He said this failure to help will be “an expensive proposition for them.”
Trump then gave a detailed account of what he characterized as Iran’s complete military destruction: “There’s no navy, there’s no air force. We’ve wiped out their leadership.” He claimed all 159 Iranian naval ships “lie beautifully at the bottom of the ocean.” He called remaining Iranian assets “little runabouts with a machine gun on the front.”
🔍 FACT CHECK — UNVERIFIABLE: Specific military claims about Iran’s losses are classified. Independent verification is not possible. Multiple media reports during the conflict have offered different assessments of Iranian military capability, which Trump attributed to “fake news.”
Press Q&A: Iran — Cease-Fire Red Line and Nuclear Sites
A reporter asked whether Trump’s red line for restarting military operations against Iran is the killing of U.S. troops. Trump confirmed: “If they kill U.S. troops, I think I would do that very quickly.”
On the nuclear deal’s status, Trump said the “main parts” are that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and that the Strait of Hormuz will open “immediately.” He said U.S. forces have been sweeping the Strait for underwater mines using sophisticated minesweeping equipment and that Space Force cameras are monitoring all access points to the bombed Iranian nuclear mountain facilities: “Every inch of that land has cameras on it… If anybody even got near it, we would know what we had to do.”
When asked whether a covert special-operations mission to extract entombed nuclear material was considered, Trump said yes — early in the conflict — but he rejected it because a multi-week extraction would have left forces exposed to remaining Iranian missiles. He added: “I didn’t want to be Jimmy Carter.”
On meeting Iran’s new supreme leader, Trump said: “I don’t want to meet, but if I did meet, I’d be honored. I’d be OK with that.”
Press Q&A: Joe Biden’s Cognition
With Biden promoting a new memoir, a reporter asked Trump whether he detected cognitive decline when the two met for the post-election transition at the White House on November 13, 2024. Trump said: “Not really. He was the same guy I’ve been watching for a long time.” He added Biden “was never the sharpest guy” over his four decades in public life and noted that Biden “did not have a good night” at the June 2024 debate — leaving open whether it reflected the debate pressure or deeper decline.
Press Q&A: Black Unemployment and Manufacturing
A reporter noted that while overall unemployment is 4.3%, Black unemployment stands at 7.3% and asked Trump to address the disparity and what he’ll do to close it.
Trump said his administration is “doing very well with African American jobs” and pointed to manufacturing plant openings — particularly auto plants — as the coming driver of Black worker gains. He said 54% of the auto industry had relocated to Germany, Japan, Canada, and Mexico over the years, and “it’s all coming back.”
🔍 FACT CHECK — APPROXIMATELY ACCURATE WITH CONTEXT: The persistent Black-white unemployment gap (roughly 7.3% vs. approximately 3.8%) has characterized the U.S. labor market across administrations and reflects structural disparities that no single policy has yet resolved. Trump’s claim that manufacturing expansion will disproportionately benefit Black workers is plausible but not yet demonstrated in current employment data.
Press Q&A: Energy Costs, Iran War Duration, and Stock Market
A reporter asked how Trump ensures coal-related cost savings get passed to consumers and what progress Iran peace talks have made. Trump responded by contrasting inflation under Biden (“highest in 48 years”) with his own record — citing egg prices down 15%, stock markets at all-time highs. He said the NYSE and other exchanges hit new records that very day — “73 days out of my short term, we’ve hit brand new highs.”
On Iran: Trump defended the timeline, comparing three months of Iran operations favorably to Vietnam (19 years), Iraq (nine years), and other wars. He said the U.S. did not lose a single soldier in the operation against Iran’s nuclear sites.
Energy Secretary Wright added that Venezuelan oil exports are now three times higher than before U.S. intervention, supplementing global supply, and that U.S. gasoline prices are “a little over $4” — expensive, but far below $10 in Europe and higher still in California.
🔍 FACT CHECK ON GAS PRICES — APPROXIMATELY ACCURATE: National average gasoline prices in early June 2026 are approximately $4.10–4.20/gallon per current EIA data, reflecting the Iran conflict’s impact on global oil markets (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2026).
Press Q&A: Auto Industry Meeting and Deregulation
Reporters asked about Trump’s previous day meeting with automaker executives, including from General Motors. Trump mentioned “Roger Penske, head of Ford” as a participant.
🔍 FACT CHECK — MINOR ERROR: Roger Penske is the chairman of Penske Automotive Group, not Ford Motor Company. Ford’s CEO is Jim Farley. This appears to be a verbal slip rather than a factual claim.
Zeldin used the auto discussion to recap EPA deregulation victories: elimination of three California EV mandate waivers, repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding, and removal of greenhouse gas emission standards across all vehicle classes. He also cited the elimination of the mandatory auto engine start-stop feature as a consumer quality-of-life win.
Trump highlighted a new tax provision in the reconciliation bill: Americans who borrow money to buy a car made in America can now deduct the loan interest from their income taxes — a benefit previously unavailable to ordinary consumers.
Press Q&A: India Trade Deal
An Indian reporter asked about the U.S.-India trade deal’s status after Secretary Rubio delivered a letter from Trump to Prime Minister Modi. Trump said: “We have it.” He acknowledged India had “for years took advantage of this country” — citing the old 200% tariff on Harley-Davidson motorcycles — but said the relationship with Modi is strong and a deal will be reached.
Press Q&A: Cuba
When asked whether U.S. sanctions on Cuba are meant to accelerate its collapse, Trump said no — the goal is “a nicely run country that can feed its people.” He described Cuba as a “failed nation” that lost its Venezuelan financial lifeline when the U.S. took control of Venezuela’s oil revenues.
Trump framed Cuban policy as the next item in his foreign policy queue, after Iran: “As soon as we finish with the Islamic Republic of Iran, on our way back, we’ll just make a little brief stop.” He said he plans to allow Cuban Americans to return to their land and invest.
Press Q&A: Energy and AI National Security
When asked about the relationship between energy dominance and national security, Trump said: “Without it, you can’t win.” He pointed to AI as the key driver — “Without massive amounts of energy, you can’t even play the game” — and credited the administration with both accelerating EPA approvals for AI data centers and allowing AI companies to build their own dedicated power plants, with surplus electricity flowing back to the grid.
Press Q&A: New York Knicks NBA Finals
The meeting ended on a lighter note. The Knicks had won Game 1 of the NBA Finals the previous night — going undefeated through the entire playoffs at that point.
Trump confirmed his Knicks fandom (“a long time”) and expressed affection for team owner Jim Dolan. He praised San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (“already a great player”) despite the Spurs being the opponent. When pressed on attendance, Trump confirmed he plans to attend — possibly Game 3 or Game 4 on Monday, with “maybe I’ll do both” floated as well.
MLA Citation
Trump, Donald J. “Remarks: Donald Trump Makes an Oval Office Announcement Regarding Coal.” Factbase, Roll Call / CQ / FiscalNote, 4 June 2026, factba.se.
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