News + Press
News + Press
News + Press
Trump’s Terrible Tariffs Are Costing West Virginia Coal Jobs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 17, 2026
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia coal communities are paying the price for President Donald Trump’s terrible tariffs and empty promises, as coal mining jobs continue to disappear across the state — even as Trump and his allies congratulate themselves at White House photo-ops.
Since President Trump took office, 1,062 coal mining jobs in West Virginia have been lost, according to public reporting. Those losses include the closure of the Mountain View Mine in Tucker County, seven mining operations in southern West Virginia, and additional closures across the southern coalfields and McDowell County.
Many of these job losses were announced after President Trump was handed a completely made-up title — the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal” — at a White House event attended by coal executives and industry supporters. While Trump was collecting applause and awards, West Virginia miners were getting pink slips.
The reason is simple: Trump’s tariffs are shrinking the global markets West Virginia coal depends on. Metallurgical coal — a major product of West Virginia mines — is largely sold overseas. Trump’s trade wars and tariff policies have triggered retaliation from other countries, making U.S. coal more expensive and less competitive abroad.
Nick Messenger of the Ohio River Valley Institute has warned that Trump’s policies are directly undercutting coal producers’ ability to sell their product.
“Trump’s policies would reduce the number of places coal producers can sell to through tariffs,” Messenger said. “That’s especially damaging for metallurgical coal, which relies on export markets.”
In April of last year, Trump signed an executive order promising to boost coal production. But as long as his terrible tariffs remain in place, Trump’s executive-order promises aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. You can’t claim to support coal miners while cutting off the markets that actually buy West Virginia coal.
Trump operates under the belief that if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes true. Whether it’s Mexico paying for the wall, ending the war in Ukraine on “day one,” making health care more affordable, or bringing back coal — his rhetoric simply does not match the reality of his record.
Coal jobs are down. Costs are up. And West Virginians are left to deal with the fallout.
“We were promised a coal comeback and lower costs for working families,” said West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin, “Instead, more than a thousand coal jobs are gone, and families are paying more at the grocery store, more for health insurance, and more on their utility bills.”
But Republicans in West Virginia continue to follow Trump without question — even as his tariff policies and false promises fail the very communities they claim to represent.
“West Virginia Republicans are acting like lemmings headed straight for a cliff,” added Pushkin. “The only problem is, they’re dragging the rest of West Virginia with them. Our workers deserve honesty, real solutions, and leadership that actually delivers results — not slogans, trade wars, and staged ceremonies.”
Despite repeated Republican claims that their policies would protect coal jobs and make life more affordable, the numbers tell a different story: prices keep rising, export markets keep shrinking, and coal jobs keep disappearing.
The West Virginia Democratic Party believes it’s time to stop pretending and start telling the truth — about where we are, how we got here, and what it will actually take to build an economy that works for West Virginia families.