{"id":1993,"date":"2025-07-21T02:57:30","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T02:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=1993"},"modified":"2025-07-21T02:57:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T02:57:30","slug":"critical-minerals-are-at-the-heart-of-trumps-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=1993","title":{"rendered":"Critical Minerals Are at the Heart of Trump’s Foreign Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Since U.S. President Donald Trump reentered office, analysts have struggled to make sense of his administration\u2019s erratic foreign policy. But as FP\u2019s Christina Lu writes, much of his agenda betrays one major through line: \u201cpotential access to China-free supply chains for critical minerals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critical minerals, which include lithium and rare-earth elements, underpin the defense and energy sectors. They are essential to technologies from chips to F-35 fighter jets\u2014and currently, the United States is deeply reliant on China for these resources.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Since U.S. President Donald Trump reentered office, analysts have struggled to make sense of his administration\u2019s erratic foreign policy. But as FP\u2019s Christina Lu writes, much of his agenda betrays one major through line: \u201cpotential access to China-free supply chains for critical minerals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critical minerals, which include lithium and rare-earth elements, underpin the defense and energy sectors. They are essential to technologies from chips to F-35 fighter jets\u2014and currently, the United States is deeply reliant on China for these resources.<\/p>\n

But can the Trump administration\u2019s tactics actually loosen China\u2019s chokehold on critical mineral supply chains? And how much would stockpiling these resources even bolster U.S. national security? The essays and reporting below cut through the noise and offer real insight into the race for these powerful materials.<\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n <\/span>
A worker mans a furnace during the nickel-smelting process in Indonesia\u2019s South Sulawesi province.<\/figcaption>

A worker mans a furnace during the nickel-smelting process in Indonesia\u2019s South Sulawesi province on March 30, 2019. Bannu Mazandra\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Trump\u2019s Chaotic Agenda Has a Critical Through Line<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

What do Greenland, Canada, and Ukraine have in common? Critical minerals, FP\u2019s Christina Lu writes.<\/p>\n

\n

\n \"A
\n <\/span>
A hand holds a small glass bottle.<\/figcaption>

A vial filled with rare earths after they were extracted from electronic waste at the Geological and Mining Research Office in Orleans, France, on June 22, 2021.Christophe Archambault\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Rich Countries Stockpiling Critical Minerals Is Not a Plan<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

The global race for resources must not become another global risk,\u00a0Patrick Schr\u00f6der writes.<\/p>\n

\n

\n \"Two
\n <\/span>
Two people are seen from behind as they sit at behind a dusty window, operating switchboard controls while watching a large piece of mining equipment kick up dust outside.<\/figcaption>

Workers operate machinery at an open-pit titanium mine in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine on Feb. 28. Roman Pilepey\/AFP via Getty Image<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ukraine\u2019s Minerals Won\u2019t Solve U.S. Supply Chain Problems<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

Market realities will stymie Trump\u2019s talking points, Joshua Busby, Emily J. Holland, and Morgan D. Bazilian write.<\/p>\n

\n

\n \"Xi
\n <\/span>
Xi and Trump walk side by side.<\/figcaption>

U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcoming ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017.Thomas Peter\/Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How Strong Is China\u2019s Rare-Earth Card?<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

Washington is making big moves, but Beijing has a powerful hand, FP\u2019s Christina Lu writes.<\/p>\n

\n

\n \"A
\n <\/span>
A woman in a mask touches an XRF gun.<\/figcaption>

A woman demonstrates an XRF gun used to determine the purity of ore in a trading depot in the artisanal copper-cobalt mine of Kamilombe, near the city of Kolwezi in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on June 20, 2023.Emmet Livingstone\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What the Critical Minerals Race Means for Women<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

They are crucial to the success of mining yet disproportionately shoulder its negative consequences, Jessica Anania writes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since U.S. President Donald Trump reentered office, analysts have struggled to make sense of his administration\u2019s erratic foreign policy. But as FP\u2019s Christina Lu writes, much of his agenda betrays one major through line: \u201cpotential access to China-free supply chains for critical minerals.\u201d Critical minerals, which include lithium and rare-earth elements, underpin the defense and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politcical-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}