The Department of Energy (DOE) has a new investment to announce to revitalize the steelmaking industry in America.
One of the most necessary tasks of the Trump administration is to support a resurgence of American industry, bringing jobs back to America, and making us less dependent upon hostile foreign nations that stole our industry with incentives of cheap labor and fewer safety regulations. The DOE on August 21 confirmed a $500 million award that will be helping to support a $1 billion investment at the Middletown, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs’ Middletown Works facility (not pictured above).
The DOE press release explained that Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright went together to the steel works on Friday. The award is expected to protect thousands of American jobs. “President Trump is rebuilding America’s industrial base,” said Wright. “This investment puts American workers and American manufacturing first.”
@CLE_CLF's $1 billion investment in Middletown Works will strengthen Made-in-America manufacturing, which you can’t do without Ohio.
— Senator Jon Husted (@SenJonHusted) August 21, 2026
Proud to join @VP and @SecretaryWright today in Middletown to celebrate this investment that will create jobs, encourage American steelmaking, and… pic.twitter.com/kNeocZPQ4e
Now, the constitutionality of the federal government investing that much taxpayer money in steelmaking is controversial, but given that the federal government has fueled the problem of the collapse of American industry by excessive over-regulation and lucrative deals with enemy nations like China, it’s understandable that there now needs to be a little bit of recompense. Hopefully, in the future, the steelmaking industry will not need any taxpayer money to keep jobs and production going strong. America was once the king of global steel production, and we can be again.
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Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson said, “DOE is proud to partner with Cleveland-Cliffs to reduce America’s dependence on foreign products and position key domestic industries—including automotive, HVAC, appliance, and steel-distribution industries—for long-term competitiveness.”
The DOE press release stated:
The investment will modernize American steelmaking, protect 2,300 American jobs, and strengthen the domestic steel supply chain. The project advances President Trump’s commitment to put American workers first, bring investment back to American communities, and strengthen the industries critical to America’s economic and national security.
Cleveland-Cliffs determined that the business case for the original project scope no longer made sense given customers’ unwillingness to pay a “green premium” for steel.
It worked with the DOE to come up with a more practical solution that would include updating the coal-fired blast furnace and capturing and commercializing co-product blast furnace gas. Steel mill product gases will help produce electricity, and industrial byproducts will go toward making concrete.
The DOE expects that construction for the new project will start within the next few weeks. Wright emphasized that this project will be “keeping Ohio at the heart of American manufacturing and strengthening our national security.”
Editor's Note: President Trump is fighting to renew America this 250th birthday year.
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