Trump reportedly to cut grant for key US steel project in Vance’s home town | Trump administration

Despite promises to bolster the US manufacturing industry, the Trump administration is reportedly planning to cut a key program that invests in some of the biggest manufacturing industries in the US, including in JD Vance’s home town of Middletown, Ohio.

Donald Trump is looking to slash a $500m grant from the Biden administration that was slated for Cleveland-Cliffs, a steel manufacturing giant in America’s rust belt, according to reporting from CNN. The grant was intended to help the company upgrade its ageing blast furnaces, so they would be powered by hydrogen, natural gas and electricity instead of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel.

Internal administration documents obtained by CNN reportedly lay out intentions to cut these grants, which would have created more than 100 permanent jobs and 1,200 construction jobs. Sources told CNN that representatives from the “department of government efficiency” had been involved in deciding which funding programs to cut.

Marcy Kaptur, the Ohio representative, told CNN in a statement: “An unelected billionaire who made his vast fortune off government contracts should not be able to unilaterally stop these programs,” referring to Elon Musk, whose Doge has continuously cut funding and jobs across the federal government.

When the grant was first announced, it was met with excitement among residents and unions, promising new jobs and a more climate-friendly agenda.

“It felt like a miracle, an answered prayer that we weren’t going to be left to die on the vine,” Michael Bailey, who worked at the plant for 30 years, told the Guardian.

Trump has long been an outspoken fan of coal, and the US vice-president referred to the clean energy legislation as a “green scam”. When Trump won the election in November last year, those who worked in the Ohio steel manufacturing industry and climate advocates were immediately fearful that the promised grant would never be delivered.

“It’s no surprise that he’s now threatening to gut a $500m investment in US manufacturing in his own home town,” said Pete Jones, rapid response director at Climate Power.

“Vance wrote a book about economic hardship in his home town, and now he has 900 new pages from Trump’s dangerous Project 2025 agenda to make the problem worse so big oil can profit.”