Trump-backed aluminum smelter becomes focal point in Oklahoma governor race

U.S. President Donald Trump is promoting a $4 billion aluminum smelter in Inola, Oklahoma, the first new U.S. plant since 1980. The project, backed by Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum and supported by a $500 million U.S. Energy Department grant, would produce about 750,000 metric tons of aluminum annually and is part of Trump’s push to increase domestic mineral production after imposing a 50% tariff on the metal.

The proposal has split Oklahoma’s Republican electorate. Attorney General Gentner Drummond vowed to block the plant, filing a lawsuit to stop its construction, while former state senator Mike Mazzei, who previously opposed the smelter, accepted Trump’s endorsement for the June primary. The dispute helped force a runoff between Drummond and Mazzei on Aug. 25, making the smelter a decisive campaign issue that could shape the state’s next governor and influence broader national industrial policy.