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Coal Boss Who Pushed for Industry Bailout Doubts Trump Will Deliver
EWG: Even the Coal Industry Can See Through White House’s Empty Promises
WASHINGTON
A top coal executive who pushed the Trump administration for a bailout that would cost consumers billions of dollars a year admitted the president probably won't be able to keep his campaign pledge to save the dying industry.
Bob Murray, CEO of Murray Energy, contributed heavily to Trump's campaign, and the administration used his wish list as a blueprint for rollbacks of environmental rules. He has pleaded with Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry to prop up the industry by mandating the use of coal to generate electricity.
But in an interview with the online news site Axios, Murray said, "I don't know if it's going to happen. I don't know. It's the government."
In an August 2017 letter to the White House, Murray said he was "desperate" for President Trump and Perry to invoke a national security emergency and order regional electricity grids to buy coal and nuclear power even if cheaper, cleaner renewable sources were available. The following month, Perry ordered the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to fast-track consideration of the proposed rule.
The FERC ultimately rejected the plan. Perry floated his scheme again this year, but in October, top economic and national security advisors at the White House shelved it, citing, among other reasons, the increased costs of energy for consumers.
A November 2017 analysis by EWG showed why Murray and other coal and nuclear executives are desperate for a ratepayer bailout: Their plants are losing billions of dollars, and without subsidies to make them competitive with renewable energy and natural gas, utilities are proposing to close 75 coal and nuclear facilities in just three short years.
This week, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported that coal plant closings doubled in President Trump's second year in office, despite his repeated pledge to "end the war on coal."
"President Trump's pledge to bring back coal will go down in history as one of the biggest lies ever told to the American people," said EWG President Ken Cook. "What's more troubling is that so many people believed him."
"Even Bob Murray and other industry bigwigs can see that clean, safe and cheap energy from renewables is quickly replacing coal and nuclear as the power sources across the country, and that trend will only continue as both ratepayers and utilities seek to lower the cost of energy," said Cook. "The days of dirty and dangerous coal and nuclear power plants dominating the grid are over."
The Environmental Working Group is a community 30 million strong, working to protect our environmental health by changing industry standards.
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Trump Is Dismantling US Democracy at a Speed 'Unprecedented in Modern History': Watchdog
"Our data on the USA goes back to 1789. What we're seeing now is the most severe magnitude of democratic backsliding ever in the country."
Mar 17, 2026
A report released on Tuesday by the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden has found that President Donald Trump and his administration are dismantling democracy in the US at a speed that "is unprecedented in modern history."
In its report, V-Dem categorizes the first year of Trump's second term as "a rapid and aggressive concentration of powers in the presidency."
In fact, V-Dem says that the Trump administration has accomplished in just one year what most budding autocracies take a decade to achieve, adding that "the speed of decline is comparable to some coups d´état."
Of particular concern is the failure of the legislative branch of the US government to apply any kind of oversight or check upon the executive branch, the report explains.
"The Republican-controlled Congress seems to have abdicated its constitutional role in favor of the executive branch, ceding significant legislative, fiscal, and oversight powers during 2025," the report says. "The Trump administration has de facto repeatedly taken over the Congressional 'power of the purse'—enshrined in the Constitution and in the 1974 Impoundment Control Act—unilaterally cancelling or reallocating federal funding."
The report also points fingers at the US Senate for repeatedly rolling over and confirming unqualified Trump nominees, which it says is tantamount to letting the White House “sideline” the upper chamber’s authority altogether.
V-Dem goes on to document the administration's repeated assaults on the judicial branch and the rule of law in general during his second term, starting when Trump issued a mass pardon to more than 1,500 alleged or convicted criminals who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Since then, the administration has waged a pressure campaign against judges who rule against it consisting of "impeachment resolutions and misconduct complaints," while also using executive orders to punish major law firms simply for representing the president's political enemies in court.
The lone bright spot in US democracy, says V-Dem, is that the administration has not yet been able to attack states' powers to administer their own elections, although not for lack of effort.
"Actions taken in 2025 raise concerns regarding the integrity of the 2026 midterms," the report warns. "This primarily concerns attempts to assert federal control over election processes, which must be decentralized and state-run, according to the Constitution."
The report notes that Trump has issued an executive order that attempts to override states' election laws by restricting mail-in voting and mandating voter IDs at polling places nationwide, but adds that "many provisions of this order have been blocked and others are still being challenged in federal court."
In an interview with The Guardian, V-Dem founder Staffan Lindberg used historical context to explain why Trump's assault on US democracy is truly without precedent.
"Our data on the USA goes back to 1789," he said. "What we’re seeing now is the most severe magnitude of democratic backsliding ever in the country."
He also said that other authoritarian leaders have taken much more time in ripping down their states' democratic institutions than Trump has.
"For Orbán in Hungary, it took about four years," Lindberg said, "for Vučić in Serbia, it took eight years, and for Erdoğan in Turkey and Modi in India, it took about 10 years to accomplish the suppression of democratic institutions that Trump has achieved in only one year."
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US-Israeli War on Iran Could Push 45 Million More Into Hunger, World Food Program Warns
"If this conflict continues, it will send shockwaves across the globe, and families who already cannot afford their next meal will be hit the hardest."
Mar 17, 2026
The United Nations World Food Program warned Tuesday that the US-Israeli war on Iran and its cascading impacts on the global economy could push 45 million more people into acute hunger this year.
WFP said in a statement that while the war "involves a global energy hub and not a breadbasket region, the potential impact is similar because energy and food markets are tightly correlated." The organization pointed to Iran's retaliatory closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a key factor in rising energy and fertilizer costs, which can drive up food prices.
Carl Skau, WFP's deputy executive director and chief operating officer, said that "if this conflict continues, it will send shockwaves across the globe, and families who already cannot afford their next meal will be hit the hardest."
"Without an adequately funded humanitarian response," Skau added, "it could spell catastrophe for millions already on the edge."
WFP provided a breakdown of where and how much acute hunger is expected to rise if the war—now in its third week—does not end by the middle of 2026:
- Asia: 10 countries analyzed; 9.1 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity, which is a 24% increase;
- East and Southern Africa: 16 countries analyzed; 17.7 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity, which is a 17.7% increase;
- Latin America and the Caribbean: 3 countries analyzed; 2.2 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity, which is a 16% increase;
- Middle East and North Africa: 12 countries analyzed; 5.2 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity, which is a 14% increase; and
- West and Central Africa: 12 countries analyzed; 10.4 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity, which is a 21% increase.
The illegal US-Israeli assault on Iran has already displaced more than 3 million Iranians, sparking fears of a massive refugee crisis. Hundreds of thousands have also been displaced in Lebanon, where Israel is expanding its aggressive aerial and ground attacks.
Aline Kamakian, a member of the World Central Kitchen Chef Corps who is leading the group's response to the escalating humanitarian disaster in Lebanon, said in a statement that "the official figures likely don’t capture the full scale of displacement."
“My biggest concern now is how long this conflict will last," said Kamakian. "Every day, more families arrive in Beirut, but there is already a shortage of housing and basic infrastructure to support so many people. Many have lost their homes and don’t know where they will go next. At the same time, the economy is collapsing—restaurants are empty, businesses are struggling, and next week is normally a period when tourists arrive and the city comes alive."
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'We Must Stop Him': Trump Advertises Desire to 'Take' Cuba as Oil Embargo Devastates Island
"He’s at war in Iran without congressional authorization. He overthrew Venezuela by force. He threatened to invade a NATO ally. Now he wants to take Cuba and thinks he can do 'anything he wants' with it."
Mar 17, 2026
US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he believes he will have "the honor of taking Cuba" and that he "can do anything" he wants with the island, as the nation of 11 million people faced a large-scale blackout and a humanitarian crisis intensified by the Trump administration's oil embargo.
"It's a beautiful island, great weather," Trump said of Cuba, whose economy has been strangled by decades of US economic warfare. "I do believe... I'll be having the honor of taking Cuba."
Asked to clarify what he meant by "taking" Cuba, Trump said: "Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it—I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth. A very weakened nation."
Watch:
Trump: Cuba, it's a beautiful island. Great weather. I will be having the honor of taking Cuba. Whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth pic.twitter.com/Po7J9tJMr2
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 16, 2026
"Dear god," responded David Adler, co-general coordinator of Progressive International. "Donald Trump is once again announcing his plans for a violent invasion of Cuba. We must stop him. To stand up for Cuba—against this malignant colonial mindset—is to stand up for all of humanity."
Trump's remarks came as Cuba faced an island-wide blackout caused by what the government called "complete disconnection" of the nation's electrical system. According to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the country hasn't received an oil shipment in over three months due to the Trump administration's embargo, which began shortly after the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and set its sights on the island as its next target.
"Cuba is ready to fall," Trump said hours after the kidnapping of Maduro.
The New York Times reported Monday that the Trump administration is seeking to remove Diaz-Canel from power in ongoing talks with the nation's government.
"In the view of some Trump administration officials, removing Cuba’s head of state would allow structural economic changes in the country that Mr. Díaz-Canel, whom the officials consider a hard-liner, is unlikely to support," the Times reported. "If the Cubans agree, it would result in the first major political shake-up arising from talks between the two countries since those began a few months ago."
Trump's latest threat to seize Cuba came as his administration continued to wage war on Iran, a deadly assault that was not authorized by the US Congress and is illegal under international law.
"He’s at war in Iran without congressional authorization. He overthrew Venezuela by force. He threatened to invade a NATO ally," US Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) said Monday. "Now he wants to take Cuba and thinks he can do 'anything he wants' with it. Where the hell are my Republican colleagues?"
"They took the same oath I did. Every single one of them who stays silent owns this," Levin added. "A Congress that won’t stop a president who answers to no one isn’t a coequal branch. It’s an accomplice."
Last week, a trio of Senate Democrats introduced a war powers resolution aimed at preventing Trump from attacking Cuba, but the measure likely faces the same fate as previous resolutions on Venezuela and Iran in the Republican-controlled chamber.
"The United States is a full-blown rogue state under Donald Trump," Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, wrote Monday.
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