I don't think Trump is pro-coal or anti-coal more than he is just pro-economy and pro-capitalism and judged the economy as pro-coal. The economy is a voice of the people and thankfully happened to move towards a more eco-friendly solution to energy.
He is pro-coal to the the extent that coal is an identity politics issue for a sizeable portion of his base, and like them he doesn't consider the environmental and societal costs of coal mining and burning to outweigh the benefits of cheap coal power. He is backed in this by the considerable political influence of the fossil fuel industry.
He's definitely pro-coal, the energy industry isn't pro-coal or anti-coal, they are pro-profits. Coal just isn't cost effective anymore so industry is building out natural gas instead of coal.
This is a very peculiar stance to take. Clearly he says that he supports coal [1]. Trump's EPA has "Affordable Clean Energy Rule" [2] to revert Obama's EPA's Clean Power Plan. Economics of coal alternatives get in the way [3] [4].
Isn't he subsidizing coal now? How is that pro capitalism? He's not even pro-economy if you take a long term view and believe climate change is going to cost trillions to deal with.
