5 minute Read: Trump Has Betrayed the People of Coal Country. They Love Him Anyway. "He thinks our people are idiots." [View all]
..."Despite all the faith these locals have put in Trump, his second term is threatening their precarious existence. Few places in America are as reliant on the federal government. According to a recent study, 45 percent of the personal income of Buchanan County residents comes from Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and government disability programs. Federal dollars also account for about 15 percent of the county budget, subsidizing nearly every aspect of local life—education, economic development, disaster recovery, housing, sewer infrastructure. And Trump has succeeded in jeopardizing or eliminating nearly all of it...."
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/trump-coal-country-grundy-rural-appalachia-virginia/
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