Trump wants to keep the US in, China out, and everyone else down.
The clean energy transition that the Biden administration touted as the focus of its industrial policy required large amounts of mineral inputs. Batteries for electric vehicles depend on lithium, solar panels contain gallium and molybdenum, and powerful magnets in wind turbines can’t be built without rare earth elements.
Biden’s landmark legislation, such as the 2022 Inflation Adjustment Act, effectively resurrected industrial policy in the United States but this time on the basis of a shift away from fossil fuels. Donald Trump, since taking office in early 2025, has swung U.S. policy back again toward oil, gas, and coal. But the Trump administration is no less interested in securing access to minerals.
After all, the same “critical minerals” necessary for the Green transition are coveted by the Pentagon for use in nearly all high-tech weapon systems. The United States depends on foreign sourcing for nearly all of these mineral inputs. And the country that controls the lion’s share of these resources—as well as the processing of them—is China. The Pentagon is particularly uncomfortable with China’s potential to hold major U.S. weapons systems hostage.
For the rest of this article: https://fpif.org/trump-dreams-of-minerals-in-ukraine-and-greenland/