President Donald Trump speaks at the "Inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Event" at Carnegie Mellon University, Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Pittsburgh, as Sen Dave McCormick, R-Pa., left, and Jon Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer, Blackstone, right, look on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

PITTSBURGH — Appearing at what is being billed as the first-ever Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, President Trump praised the commonwealth’s energy sector and trumpeted a series of investments in energy and artificial intelligence that are set to be made across the state.

“It’s a really triumphant day for the people of the commonwealth and of the United States of America,” Trump told a gathering in Carnegie Mellon University’s Wiegand Gymnasium. “The future is going to be designed and built right here in America.”

Trump had top billing at the summit, which was hosted by Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick. To coincide with the summit, it was announced that more than $90 billion will be invested in several energy and AI-related areas, such as start-ups, expanding gas pipelines, developing data centers and building training facilities. The $90 billion includes money GE Verona is going to put toward expanding a power grid equipment manufacturing plant in Charleroi, which they say will create 250 new jobs.

“None of this would have happened without your unwavering commitment to American energy dominance,” McCormick told Trump.

“These are truly the biggest investments in the world,” Trump said.

Some members of Trump’s administration were on hand for the summit, including Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Executives and investors in the energy sector were also there.

Aside from McCormick, the highest-ranking elected official at the event was Gov. Josh Shapiro. He and McCormick both participated in a panel discussion at lunchtime on investing in Pennsylvania. Shapiro, a Democrat, noted that he and McCormick, a Republican and former hedge fund manager, have their disagreements, but that “we need to be at the crossroads of the energy and AI revolution.”

The rise of artificial intelligence was a front-and-center issue at the summit, and proponents of the energy industry say that the country needs to fortify its electrical grid in order to meet the demands AI will put on it. McCormick noted that Pennsylvania is the nation’s second largest energy producer and it is “uniquely positioned to deliver the abundant, affordable energy that growing AI and advanced manufacturing sectors demand.”

He added, “We have the skilled workforce to build and operate this critical infrastructure, world-class universities driving innovation and strategic proximity to over half the country’s population.”

Jim Welty, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said in a statement that “winning the global AI race” is “a matter of national security, and with clean and abundant Pennsylvania-produced natural gas, we can also continue to protect and enhance our environment and create good-paying tech, building trades and energy jobs.”

Trump’s remarks were not entirely about energy or AI. He noted the attempt on his life that happened in Butler County a year ago on Sunday, took a victory lap for the budget bill Congress approved earlier this month and slammed the environmental and energy policies of his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

“I ended Joe Biden’s war on Pennsylvania’s clean, beautiful coal,” he said.

Security at the summit was tight. The campus of Carnegie Mellon University and the neighborhoods around it were eerily quiet, and some streets were blocked off. Employees of Carnegie Mellon were told to work remotely Tuesday, and both the nearby Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History were closed because of the event.