Bleak outlook for Trump's promises to coal miners

New York

DONALD Trump made coal a centrepiece of his campaign, holding rousing rallies with miners in hard hats, who he said had been neglected under eight years of the Obama administration. The strategy paid off, helping him score crucial wins in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Now, though, coal may prove a different sort of symbol - that is, of the challenges that the president-elect will face delivering on his many promises to restore struggling sectors of the US economy.