Trump wants Ukraine’s natural resources in exchange for U.S. aid: report
Trump wants to make a deal for Ukraine’s earth minerals critical to the new tech economy. He says they are receptive to the idea in exchange for continued military aid.
U.S. President Donald Trump has given Ukraine an ultimatum — give us your rare earth minerals or say buh bye to billions in aid.
“We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure … their rare earth and other things,” he told reporters at the Oval Office Monday.
Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to end world conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war. “We’re going to stop that ridiculous war.”
Donald Trump on Biden handling the Ukraine/Russia conflict:
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 27, 2022
"The problem is not that Putin is smart... the real problem is that our leaders are dumb."
MORE: https://t.co/xgUbAcY6Nq pic.twitter.com/33RBo7EsQP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the U.S. is in “general talks” with them, and expects in-person discussions to happen soon.
“We need to work more on this,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also expressed a willingness to negotiate peace with Trump. “In my opinion, soon there will be no one left who wants to fight. We are ready, but the other side needs to be ready for both negotiations and compromises.”
Meanwhile, military aid to Ukraine remains on the table, amounting to $65.9 billion since the Russian invasion began in February, 2022.
President Trump speaks on the Russia-Ukraine war, saying it never would have started if he was president but "bad things happened" and "bad things were said" during Biden's administration.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) January 23, 2025
"Far more people have died than is being reported," he says. pic.twitter.com/0ThWmiIgtv
For that to continue, Trump wants to make a deal for earth minerals critical to the new tech economy. He says Ukraine’s government is receptive to the idea.
“I want to have [the] security of rare earth,” Trump said. “We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth. And I want [the] security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do it.”
A Trump policy adviser previously told the Daily Mail that American citizens have been some of the “most generous people in the entire world.”
“But at this point, we have to understand that foreign policy is domestic policy,” they said, “and if this is not aligned with our interests, then Uncle Sam should not be opening up his pocketbook any longer.”
President Zelenskyy confirmed the U.S. has not stopped military aid despite a 90-day pause. “Thank God,” he said.
Among the litany of executive orders signed by U.S. President Donald Trump includes the halting of new foreign aid. Unless it serves the strategic goals of America, it’s getting cut.https://t.co/5k55PyLbJq
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) January 21, 2025
Trump previously threatened stiff tariffs and sanctions on Russia if an agreement was not reached to end the war.
He would not speculate whether tariffs would force Putin to negotiate. “I don’t know,” Trump said. “I think he should make a deal.”
“We made a lot of progress on Russia, Ukraine. We’ll see what happens.”
Zelenskyy warned that any negotiations between the U.S. and Russia were unacceptable if it did not include Ukraine, though he believes Trump will ultimately succeed in ending the war.
“This can only be done with Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said, “otherwise it simply will not work.” He claimed it was “dangerous” to talk about Ukraine without being present.
Alex Dhaliwal
Journalist and Writer
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
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COMMENTS
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Bruce Atchison commented 2025-02-05 20:01:22 -0500I thought Trump wanted to end the war. It sounds like he wants to send troops into Ukraine. And why doesn’t he just import Canadian minerals once the Liberals are gone?
