China, with whom Trump has threatened a trade war, is the world's largest producer of rare earths and many other critical minerals. Trump has also expressed interest in making Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark which also sits on large rare earth deposits, a part of the U.S. since his reelection.

Ukraine previously offered U.S. access to its rare earth minerals in an effort to keep the Trump administration engaged in supporting the country militarily in its fight with Russia.

Ukraine has already emphasized that by supporting its war effort, the U.S. could get access to the country’s wealth of critical minerals like lithium and uranium.