WASHINGTON — Dozens of retired miners, some in wheelchairs and using oxygen tanks to manage black lung disease, recently visited the Capitol seeking federal help for their failing pension plans.
A day later, President Donald Trump traveled to the miners’ home state, West Virginia, to raise an estimated $2.5 million for his re-election campaign at an event hosted by Robert Murray, who owns America’s largest underground coal company.
As an insurgent candidate in 2016, Trump promised miners he would restore the industry — and their jobs — after years of steady decline.
