QAnon conspiracy theorist leading Trump obsession is 'not normal': insiders

Over the course of his political career, President Donald Trump has spoken often of his desire to revive “clean, beautiful coal,” pushing for greater emphasis on the increasingly outdated energy source while stifling renewable energies like wind and solar. Now, according to Politico, Trump has a controversial far-right activist leading his coal efforts, in a move that has insiders declaring, “This is not normal.”

According to Politico, “A man the Trump administration picked to be a key player at the fore of a U.S. coal renaissance is likely more familiar to QAnon circles than energy ones.” That man is Alex Phillips, a QAnon conspiracy theorist who — though he has no background in coal or any other form of energy, for that matter — has been placed in charge of TerraSpark, the first new coal-fired powerplant built in the U.S. since 2013.

As Politico explained, “Few if any Trump administration energy allies have heard of TerraSpark or Alex Phillips, who is running the company with two other people also lacking coal backgrounds. Even the Republican lawmaker whose district would host the massive coal plant and carbon capture project learned of it just two months before the Energy Department this month agreed to give it $18.5 million of taxpayer dollars to pay for a feasibility and design study.”

Phillips may have no experience in energy, but he does offer a key qualification Trump tends to seek: engagement with far-right, MAGA political circles. Owner of a rural Virginia-based internet business, “He was past president of a wireless internet company trade association that also had a political action committee. And he operated his own PAC, the Great American Patriot Project, that backed candidates who ‘adhere to the United States Constitution and America First principles.’”

But what really made him known among the MAGA movement was his involvement with American Priority Conference, known as AMPfest, which “drew QAnon promoters and personalities like Roger Stone — President Donald Trump is a longtime friend and former client — former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn and other MAGA influencers with a history of spreading conspiracy theories, particularly the lie that widespread voter fraud cost Trump the 2020 election. AMPfest and Phillips’ American Priority organization have since closed shop, with the last AMPfest held in October 2021 at Trump National Doral in Miami. Before then, however, he became integral enough to MAGA world to secure a speaking spot alongside far-right provocateurs like Alex Jones, Scott Pressler and Jack Posobiec at a rally on the eve of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 ‘Save America’ event.” While he didn’t end up speaking for unreported reasons, he embraced election denier theories.

“This is not normal,” said Mike McKenna, an energy lobbyist who worked in the first Trump White House. “I don’t want to be that guy, but this is obviously political.”