Critical Minerals’ Breakout Year |
The year’s best stories
This year might be remembered as the one in which critical minerals took center stage. Of the 50 or so raw materials that comprise the building blocks of the U.S. defense and energy sectors, U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to come across one that he doesn’t like. In fact, as Foreign Policy’s Christina Lu observed, critical minerals are the “through line” of Trump’s second term, and access to them has shaped his geographic fixations and alliances.
Part of what motivates Trump is that the supply chains for rare earths, a particularly sought-after subset of 17 metallic elements, are largely controlled by China. By mid-2025, with the two superpowers locked in a bitter trade war, Beijing showed its willingness to weaponize that control, unveiling a series of export restrictions largely targeting heavy rare earths. Though China eventually agreed to suspend their implementation until late 2026, the United States took the hint and has doubled down on its hunt for friendlier partners.
This year might be remembered as the one in which critical minerals took center stage. Of the 50 or so raw materials that comprise the building blocks of the U.S. defense and energy sectors, U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to come across one that he doesn’t like. In fact, as Foreign Policy’s Christina Lu observed, critical minerals are the “through line” of Trump’s second term, and access to them has shaped his geographic fixations and alliances.
Part of what motivates Trump is that the supply chains for rare earths, a........