​​​​​​WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to promote US coal.

"It's such an honor to be here and making such a big move, such a bold move, in energy," Trump told reporters at a signing ceremony at the White House.

Trump argued that former President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats tried to "abolish" the American coal industry for four years.

"The Democrats green new scam killed jobs and sent prices soaring here in America. But meanwhile, China opened two coal plants every single week, and other countries likewise went very strongly back into coal," he said.

Trump said that under the executive order: "We're slashing unnecessary regulations that targeted the beautiful clean coal. We will rapidly expedite leases for coal mining on federal lands ... and we'll streamline permitting."

Trump said he directed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to use billions of dollars in federal funding to invest in the next generation of coal technology, and instructed him to save the state of Arizona’s coal plant from closure.

In addition, the president said he is instructing the Justice Department to identify and fight state or local regulations that are putting coal miners out of business.

He said he will tap the Defense Production Act to "turbocharge" coal mining in America.

The US needs more than double the electricity, he stressed.

"Earlier this afternoon, I signed another executive order to strengthen our electric grid by ensuring that coal-fired power plants are always available to meet surging demand for electricity," he said.