Inola, Oklahoma – a small rural community known as the "Hay Capital of the World" has become a center of President Donald Trump’s push to rebuild the American aluminum industry.
The town, about 25 miles east of Tulsa, is slated to host a massive $4 billion primary aluminum smelter backed by Trump, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and federal energy officials. If built, it would be the first new domestic primary aluminum smelter of its kind since 1980.
But in deeply Republican "Trump country," the project has run into fierce local resistance from residents, ranchers and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican gubernatorial candidate.
National Security Meets an Aluminum Shortage
Trump has framed the Oklahoma smelter as part of a broader national security and manufacturing agenda.
