President Trump said Monday that he’s looking to reach an agreement with Ukraine that will guarantee US access to rare earth minerals in the country in exchange for continued US military aid.
“We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office. “We want a guarantee. We’re handing them money, hand over fist.”
The president suggested Ukraine would agree to such a proposal. “I want to have security of rare earth,” he said. “We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do it.”
Trump also said that European countries should be paying more for military aid to Ukraine to get on an equal level of spending with the US. “Europe is not keeping up with us. They should equalize,” he said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has frequently brought up Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as a reason to continue fueling the proxy war.
“This war is about money. People don’t talk much about it. But you know, the richest country in all of Europe for rare earth minerals is Ukraine. Two to seven trillion dollars’ worth of minerals that are rare earth minerals, very relevant to the 21st century,” Graham told Fox News host Sean Hannity in November. “Ukraine’s ready to do a deal with us, not the Russians. So it’s in our interest to make sure that Russia doesn’t take over the place.”
Graham added that he expected Trump to “do a deal to get our money back, to enrich ourselves with rare earth minerals. A good deal for Ukraine and us.”
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the war in Ukraine, but his rare earth mineral proposal suggests he’s planning to continue military aid for some time. Ukrainian media published what’s purported to be Trump’s plan to end the war, which calls for the US to continue military aid to Ukraine after a peace deal, but it’s unlikely Russia would agree to that, or at least any substantial US support for the Ukrainian military.
