\u00bb Read more about the announcement and project here<\/a><\/p>\nThe project will be supported by a $500 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, which was originally meant to support a project that would have converted Middletown Works\u2019 energy to hydrogen. It is dependent upon an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency air permit, which the agency continues to review and evaluate the comments received during the public comment period.<\/p>\n
Vance relayed a message from President Donald J. Trump to the large crowd of supporters at the plant, \u201cThe future of America \u2026 is right here in Middletown, Ohio.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before speaking at the mill, Vance stopped at Central Pastry Shop in Middletown. After the event, he traveled to Price Hill Chili in Cincinnati, where he served beer and Cincinnati-style chili dogs to patrons.<\/p>\n
Crowd attends to see Vance, hear about project<\/p>\n
The doors to the event at the Middletown plant opened at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no great power, no great nation, without industrial might,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright at the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Local resident Samantha Black was at the event Friday morning and said she expected to hear about the economics of the plant, and she is \u201cexcited to see JD Vance and be in the same room\u201d as the vice president.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched a lot of his TED Talks when I was in college, and I think it\u2019d be nice to full-circle see him in person,\u201d Black said. \u201cWe don\u2019t do much in this small town and to have a vice president from here is pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Early arrivals line up to get on shuttle bus Friday, Aug. 21, 2026 to take them to the site at Cleveland Cliffs for Vance visit.<\/p>\n
Nick Graham – Photojournalist<\/p>\n
As of 10:30 a.m. Friday there was a long line of Vance supporters waiting to get inside the event. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, were there along with Middletown Mayor Elizabeth Slamka, Middletown City Manager Ashley Combs, Middletown Assistant Director of Community and Economic Development Jacob Schulte and Middletown City Schools Superintendent Elgin Card.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine arrives at Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works ahead of a modernization announcement from Cleveland-Cliffs and the Department of Energy Friday morning, Aug. 21, 2026. Vice President JD Vance is expected to speak.<\/p>\n
Eric Schwartzberg\/Staff<\/p>\n
Vance supporter and local resident David Caudill told this news outlet he was there because he likes Vance and Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to see Trump re-run or Vance, one,\u201d said Caudill, who was wearing a T-shirt that said \u201c1st Amendment Defines Us, 2nd Amendment Protects Us.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Middletown Resident David Caudill attends an event at Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026 where Vice President JD Vance was set to appear and make remarks.<\/p>\n
Bryn Dippold<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the home boy,\u201d he said of having a native of Middletown in the White House.<\/p>\n
Trenton resident James Ewen said he and his sister, who are both Trump supporters, turned out to root on Vance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exciting\u201d that Vance is back in town, Ewen told this news outlet. \u201cHe loves the donuts here, he\u2019ll be talking about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ewen said he saw Vance last time he was in Middletown, speaking at the high school during the presidential campaign of 2024. He said he hopes Vance will share positive news about the economy and address what\u2019s happening in Iran.<\/p>\n
There are some protestors at today\u2019s event in Middletown and they have signs against pollution. Those protesting are at the Cliffs entrance on Lefferson Road.<\/p>\n
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Protestors are seen at the Cliffs entrance on Lefferson Road in Middletown. Most have signs against pollution. They are there as Cleveland-Cliffs and the Department of Energy announce a project focused on Cliffs infrastructure modernization.<\/p>\n
Eric Schwartzberg<\/p>\n
Mike Oles, of Indianapolis, told this news outlet their coalition, Mighty Earth, protested at the event \u201cbecause JD Vance is in his hometown making an announcement of the future of the steel mill, and we\u2019re pretty sure he\u2019s going to be talking about investing money that was given during the previous administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s missing the bigger story here \u2026 is that this plant has a chance to become one of the leading clean steel mills here in the United States that would create new jobs and reduce pollution and improve people\u2019s quality of life. Instead what we\u2019re getting is a backward-thinking plan that is going to create less jobs, make the plant less competitive and create more pollution,\u201d Oles said.<\/p>\n
Middletown resident Donna Ballinger was also with the protestors, and said she believes folks in the area have health problems because of the pollution from Middletown Works.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want for greener, cleaner air for everyone in this community,\u201d she said. \u201cPlease do the right thing,\u201d she said with a message pointed at the Trump administration regarding changes to the plant\u2019s blast furnace. \u201cDo better, you can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mighty Earth sent a news release on Friday with more from Ballinger:<\/p>\n
“Almost every day my home and property, as well as my neighbors, are bombarded by fallout, noise and toxic emissions,\u201d said Ballinger, who lives 800 feet from the plant. \u201cCleveland-Cliffs and JD Vance need to get rid of coal and go back to the original project that would clean up the air we breathe and improve our health. Extending the life of the coal furnace will continue to harm me, my family and my neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modernization project<\/p>\n
Cliffs officials have said the project would rebuild and modernize the facility’s iron-making process. The steel mill traces its roots to 1900, when it opened as The American Rolling Mill Company, commonly known as Armco.<\/p>\n
According to Cleveland-Cliffs, the modernization project could create up to 1,500 jobs, including many positions for local union building trades workers during construction.<\/p>\n
The project’s future, however, remains dependent on regulatory approval. An Ohio Environmental Protection Agency air permit required for the work remains under review, according to an Ohio EPA spokesperson.<\/p>\n
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If approved by the Ohio EPA as submitted by Cleveland-Cliffs, an air permit will allow installation of a cogeneration plant to generate steam and electricity for use at the facility, as well as various changes to a blast furnace and associated material-handling operations. Nick Graham \/ staff<\/p>\n
hjn-070526-cleveland-cliffs (1)<\/p>\n
Nick Graham<\/a><\/p>\nVance\u2019s presence at the announcement Friday is his first public appearance in Middletown since July 2024, when he attended a campaign rally at Middletown High School shortly after being selected as President Donald Trump’s running mate. Vance, who was raised in Middletown, currently resides in Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Regional traffic<\/p>\n
Roads and sidewalks near Vance’s home in Cincinnati’s East Walnut Hills neighborhood will be closed from Thursday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, according to a city news release.<\/p>\n
The following closures will be in effect:<\/p>\n
William Howard Taft Road between 1905 William Howard Taft Road and East McMillan Street.<\/p>\n
Collins Avenue between William Howard Taft Road and the underside of the U.S. 50\/Columbia Parkway overpass.<\/p>\n
Taft Road Lane and Heatherhill Lane.<\/p>\n
Westbound Riverside Drive between the Leblond Recreation Center and Collins Avenue because of ongoing construction.<\/p>\n
Motorists are encouraged to use Torrence Parkway, Madison Road and Woodburn Avenue as alternate routes while the closures remain in place.<\/p>\n
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Butler County Commissioner TC Rogers is at Middletown Works on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026 ahead of Vice President JD Vance speaking there regarding a modernization project announcement by the Department of Energy and Cleveland-Cliffs.<\/p>\n
Nick Graham<\/p>\n
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Sen. Bernie Moreno attends a project announcement event at Middletown Works on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. Cleveland-Cliffs and the Department of Energy are hosting the event where Vice President JD Vance will speak.<\/p>\n
Nick Graham<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vice President JD Vance speaks during a visit to Cleveland-Cliffs\u2019 Middletown Works where he highlighted the Trump Administration\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[119],"tags":[169,168],"class_list":["post-198452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jd-vance","tag-james-david-vance","tag-jd-vance"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117142173241349342","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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