According to the WEF, while China may not have the largest reserves of rare earth minerals, it dominates the refining process, making it the world’s largest importer of critical minerals
President Donald Trump said that he would be signing a rare earth mineral deal with Ukraine “very shortly.” Trump expressed optimism about a potential ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “Our country is doing very well. Things are–as you can see–doing quite well,” he said. Trump announced that he had signed an executive order to boost the production of critical minerals in the United States.
“Moments ago, I signed an executive order to dramatically increase production of critical minerals and rare earths. It’s a big thing in this country. 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,” he said.
According to the World Economic Forum, while China may not have the largest reserves of rare earth minerals, it dominates the refining process, making it the world’s largest importer of critical minerals, which it processes and supplies globally. The United States, India, and Germany follow China as major importers, while the United States, Chile, Switzerland, and Australia have recorded significant increases in exports of raw, semi-processed, or processed critical minerals.
Referring to his recent phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, Trump expressed hope for an end to the ongoing conflict.
“We’re doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia, and one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earth with Ukraine. They have tremendous value in rare earth minerals. We appreciate that. We spoke yesterday with President Putin and President Zelenskyy, and we would love to see this come to an end. I think we’re doing pretty well in that regard. Hopefully, we can save thousands of people a week from dying. They’re dying so unnecessarily, and I believe we’ll get it done. We’ll see what happens, but I believe we’ll get it done,” he said. At a press briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the administration had “moved beyond the economic minerals deal.”
Leavitt explained, “It means the minerals deal was that first set of framework that you all saw in that very public meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Trump in the Oval Office. We are now focused on a long-term peace agreement.” Earlier, Trump also signed a proclamation honouring the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous speech to the Second Virginia Convention.
“I just want to announce that I signed a proclamation a few moments ago honouring the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous speech to the Second Virginia Convention, in which he declared the very well-known, very famous words: ‘Give me liberty or give me death,'” he said.
Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday announced the launch of the CBP Home app, a platform that allows individuals illegally residing in the United States to self-deport, warning that those who fail to leave using this option will face forcible removal and a lifetime ban on re-entry.
However, Trump indicated that those who choose to leave voluntarily may have a chance to re-enter the country legally in the future.
“People in our country illegally can self-deport the easy way, or they can get deported the hard way, and that’s not pleasant. The Biden administration exploited the CBP One app to allow more than 1 million aliens to illegally enter the United States. Now my administration is launching the CBP Home app to give people in our country illegally an easy way to leave now and self-deport voluntarily,” he said.
He further added, “If they do, they could potentially have the opportunity to return legally at some point in the future. But if they do not avail themselves of this opportunity, then they will be found, they will be deported, and they will never be admitted again to the United States ever, ever again. You’re never coming in.”
Trump also mentioned that voluntary deportation through the app could help save government resources. He stated that the CBP Home app is now available for free on all mobile app stores.
“Using the CBP Home app to leave the United States voluntarily is the safest option for illegal aliens or law enforcement. It also saves the US taxpayer dollars and valuable CBP and ICE resources. And all of those resources are necessary to focus on dangerous criminal aliens. And that’s what we’re focused on. The CBP Home app is now available free across all mobile app stores. And I encourage those who have violated our laws to use this option today. Do it right and come back to our country. Do it wrong and you’ll never be back again,” he said.
