President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order intended to boost production of critical minerals in the United States and confirmed a deal to gain access to minerals in Ukraine was still on track.
Trump signed the order behind closed doors at the White House. A spokesperson said the order would streamline permitting to allow for increased mining of the minerals. Full text of the order was not immediately available.
“It’s a big thing in this country. And as you know we’re also signing agreements in various locations to unlock rare earths and minerals and lots of other things all over the world. But in particular Ukraine,” Trump said at an event where he signed a measure aimed at dismantling the Department of Education.
“One of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with Ukraine with respect to rare earth,” Trump added.
Rare earth elements refers to a specific group of materials that are only deposited in relatively small quantities and can be used in a variety of applications including electronics, health care and batteries.
Ukraine has a significant amount of those elements, and they have been central to negotiations between the U.S. and Kyiv as Trump pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine.
Trump administration officials brokered a deal with Ukraine to give the U.S. access to those minerals. The president and his advisers have argued giving the U.S. an economic stake in those critical minerals would provide an increased security incentive for protecting Kyiv against Russian aggression.
The deal was derailed after a contentious Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month, but it appears the two sides are once again prepared to sign off on the agreement.
