In a push to boost the export of coal to other countries, Trump invoked a wartime order to fund the development of 13 plants across the US, including Oakland, which is expected to be one of the largest facilities on the West Coast.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he invoked the Defense Production Act to direct $75 million toward the long-delayed coal export terminal planned for the former Oakland Army Base site in West Oakland, as the Chronicle reports. The funds are part of a broader $700 million federal investment in 13 coal-related projects nationwide aimed at expanding mining, power generation, and export infrastructure.

The coal funding aligns with Trump’s aim to revive the industry, which the administration has argued is needed to help meet growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.

The federal funding is expected to allow construction to begin this summer, with coal shipments projected to start by 2028. According to California Post, the facility could export up to 12 million tons of coal annually, primarily from Utah and Wyoming, to overseas markets, making it one of the largest coal export terminals on the West Coast.

The administration says the Oakland terminal will operate around the clock and create more than 1,400 on-site jobs, while supporting additional mining, rail, construction, and port-related jobs across the western United States.

As SFist reported previously, the terminal has been tied up in legal battles for nearly a decade as environmental groups fought concerns over coal dust pollution and the city’s role in the fossil fuel industry. The project traces back to 2013, when Oakland approved developer Phil Tagami’s plans for a bulk shipping terminal on city-owned land.

After Tagami signed an agreement with a coal export company, Oakland moved to ban coal handling and storage citywide. The California Supreme Court ultimately ruled in 2023 that the city could not apply the ban to a project it had already approved, clearing the way for the terminal to move forward. The court battle has also become a financial headache for Oakland, with potential damages from the litigation threatening to further strain the city’s finances.

Although opponents have largely exhausted their legal challenges, anti-coal advocates continue to push for restrictions through regulatory agencies.

The Chronicle reports that earlier this year, the group No Coal in Oakland called on the Bay Area Air District to limit the amount of coal that can move through the terminal and impose stricter controls on coal dust emissions. The air district has reportedly not yet acted on those requests.

Previously: Obscure, 12-Year-Old Port of Oakland Coal Battle Could End Up Bankrupting City of Oakland

Image: OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 01: In an aerial view, a  container ship arrives at the Port of Oakland on August 01, 2025 in  Oakland, California. U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his  August 1 deadline for trade deals will not be extended and sweeping  tariffs will be imposed on certain countries beginning today. (Photo by  Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The DOJ arrested a San Leandro man and three others as part of an alleged conspiracy to evade US trade laws by smuggling powerful Nvidia GPUs and AI chips to China through Thailand and Malaysia. The man allegedly bragged that his dad did the same work for the CCP.

As Bay Area News Group reports, Cham “Tony” Li, 38, a Chinese national who lives in San Leandro, was arrested last week, along with three others who live in Florida and Alabama, for attempting to allegedly export millions of dollars worth of restricted top-of-the-line Nvidia technology to China.

Per a press release from the US Department Of Justice, the United States has strict regulations in place as China strives to fulfill its goal of becoming an AI world leader by 2030 by utilizing AI advancements to modernize its military, develop weapons of mass destruction, and deploy sophisticated surveillance tools. Nvidia, a Santa Clara-based company, is not involved with the case. Court Watch was the first to break the story.

Li, along with Hon Ning “Matthew” Ho, 34, a US citizen who was born in Hong Kong and lives in Tampa, Florida, are suspected of using a shell company called Janford Realtor to funnel almost $4 million from two unnamed Hong Kong-registered Chinese companies, per Bay Area News Group, to purchase and then export the restricted computer GPUs and chips, per CNBC. Ho is considered the “ringleader” of the operation, per Wired.

Jing “Harry” Chen, 45, a Chinese national on an F-1 nonimmigrant student visa who also lives in Tampa, Florida, is listed as helping Li and Ho with the operation. Additionally, Brian Curtis Raymond, 46, a US citizen in Huntsville, Alabama, allegedly used his company Bitworks Technology, a legal reseller of Nvidia chips, to help with the export, per Forbes.

The group successfully carried out two exports between October 2024 and January 2025 when they shipped 400 Nvidia A100 processors through Malaysia to China, per the press release. The third and fourth exports were thwarted earlier this year when law enforcement caught them allegedly trying to ship 50 Nvidia H200 processors and 10 Hewlett Packard supercomputers containing Nvidia H100 chips to China through Thailand, per CNBC.

“The indictment unsealed yesterday alleges a deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled NVIDIA GPUs to China by falsifying paperwork, creating fake contracts, and misleading U.S. authorities,” said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security in DOJ’s press release. “The National Security Division is committed to disrupting these kinds of black markets of sensitive U.S. technologies and holding accountable those who participate in this illicit trade.”

Per Wired, during their investigation, authorities obtained text messages in which Li talked about how his father “had engaged in similar business on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party” and knew how to get around export restrictions. He also allegedly admitted to “various facts” during questioning.

Li, Ho, and Chen are all in custody, and Li is scheduled to be arraigned December 4 in Tampa. Raymond was released on bond and won’t be detained, per Wired.

Per CNBC, Raymond was the chief technology officer of a tech company in Virginia that was about to become publicly traded, but he’s no longer employed there.

Related: Alleged SoCal Tech Burglar Crew Charged With Stealing $22 Million Worth of Gear From Bay Area Companies

Top image: A closeup of a silicon wafer on display at Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institution on September 16, 2022 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing capabilities are crucial to global supply chains, with megacap companies like Apple, Nvidia and Qualcomm heavily dependent on the island's exports. (Photo by Annabelle Chih/Getty Images)

After allegedly being beaten, sexually assaulted, threatened by a Guatemalan congressman, and chronically harassed by Guatemalan police, gay Bay Area resident Saul Martinez fled to the United States in 1992. Now, after years of living in the U.S., the Feds are trying to send him back to his country of origin. According to the National Center for Lesbian Rights:

In 1992, when Martinez initially applied for asylum, the U.S. had not yet recognized sexual orientation as a ground for asylum. Afraid of being forced back to Guatemala, where he feared for his life, and unaware that persecution based on sexual orientation might be a basis for asylum in this country, Martinez did not disclose his sexual orientation in his initial asylum application, stating that he feared returning to Guatemala because of his political opinion.

Unfortunately, since Martinez failed to claim sexual orientation as his reason for escape, and with a jarring disregard to Guatemala's treatment of LGBT ilk, the Ninth Circuit says he's not credible and denied his claim to stay in the U.S. Even though "Martinez’s life partner testified in court about their relationship," there's a very good chance he will be sent back to a place where he must live in fear. Again. (At the very least, aome of this mess, perhaps, might not be problem if same-sex marriage was still legal in California.)