US President Donald Trump has announced the start of a stockpile of strategic minerals.
The stock, called Project Vault, was announced on Monday. It will combine $2bn of private capital with a $10bn loan from the US Export-Import Bank.
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It’s the latest move by the White House to invest in rare-earth minerals, which are needed to produce key goods including semiconductor chips, smartphones and electric car batteries.
The goal, Trump said at the White House, was to “ensure that American businesses and workers are never harmed by any shortage.”
The move to develop the strategic stockpile is the latest in a series of attempts by the Trump administration to control rare-earth materials production facilities on other countries, particularly China, which has withheld its exports to gain leverage in negotiations with Trump.
Here’s a look at some of the investments the US government has made in this space.
What are investments?
In 2025, the Trump administration acquired equity stakes in seven companies by converting federal grants into ownership positions. Among the investments is a 10 percent stake in USA Rare Earth, which plans to build a rare-earth element and magnet manufacturing facility in the US.
The project is supported by $1.6bn in funds allocated under the CHIPS Act, a law passed during the administration of former Democratic President Joe Biden aimed at reducing reliance on China for semiconductor production.
USA Rare Earth announced the investment last week and expects to begin commercial production in 2028.
The US government also bought an estimated 10 percent stake, valued at about $1.9 billion. Korea Zinc To help fund a $7.4bn smelter in Tennessee through a joint venture controlled by the US government and an undisclosed US-based strategic investor, who would then control about 10 per cent of the South Korean firm.
The venture will operate a mining complex anchored by two mines and the only operating zinc smelter in the US. Construction is set to begin this year, with commercial operations expected to begin in 2029.
In October, the government announced a $35.6m investment to take a 10 per cent stake in Canadian-based Trilogy Metals to support the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP) in Alaska. The investment supports the development of critical minerals including copper, zinc, gold and silver in Alaska’s mineral-rich northwest Ambler mining district.
Also in October, America had announced to give 50 percent share Lithium America As part of a joint venture with General Motors (GM) to fund operations at the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada. The project will supply lithium for electric vehicles and has received significant interest from the Detroit-based automaker.
In August, the White House almost bought it 10 percent stake in Intel. The government’s investment in the semiconductor chip giant was an attempt to help fund the construction and expansion of the company’s domestic manufacturing capabilities.
In July, the White House announced a 15 percent investment in MP Materials, which operates the only active rare-earth mine in the US, located in California. The largest federal stakeholder in the investment is the War Department, known as the Department of Defence, which committed $400m.
The U.S. is seeking an 8 percent stake in Critical Minerals for a stake in the Tranbreeze rare-earth deposits in Greenland, underlining Trump’s unwanted attempts to take over the Danish autonomous region, Reuters news agency reported.
Amid news of Trump’s stock plan, shares in the sector are mixed. MP Materials and Intel gained 0.6 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Others ended the day with a downward trend. Lithium Americas is down 2.2 percent. Trilogy Metals is down almost 2 percent, USA Rare Earths is down 1.3 percent and Korean Zinc is down 12.6 percent.
Is this unusual?
Government purchases of equity stakes in large companies are unusual in US history, but not unprecedented.
During the 2008 financial crisis, the US government temporarily acquired equity stakes in several large companies through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In 2009, TARP provided federal assistance to General Motors, ultimately leaving the government with more than 60% ownership. The intervention began in the final months of former President George W. Bush’s administration. The government completely sold its stake in GM in 2013.
Through TARP, the government also bought a 9.9 percent stake in Chrysler, which it exited in 2011.
The program extended beyond carmakers to the financial sector. The US government took over 73 percent stake in GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation, now Ally Financial) by exiting its ownership in 2014. It sold its remaining stake in 2012, taking a 34 percent stake in 2012, with C20 holding the full 34 percent stake.
“It’s not like 2008, when there was an urgent need to add serious companies. Here’s a more measured approach. They (the US government) want to see a return on these investments and they need to be seen as a good investment to attract other types of capital,” said Nick Giles, senior equity research analyst, JA Riley Bank, JA Riley Bank investment firm, Market Capital Curing, J.
During the Great Depression, the government bought stakes in many large banks. Prior to that, at the turn of the 20th century, it bought an equity stake in the Panama Railroad Company, which was responsible for building the railroad used during the construction of the Panama Canal. That equity stake was tied to a specific project rather than a more open-ended challenge such as foreign dependence on critical minerals.
“There may not be a defined end date, but they are clearly looking to come back, and this sends an important signal that there is more to come. I don’t think they (the government) are going to let this fail,” Giles added.
Political divide over approach
The interest in funding critical mineral projects was shared by Trump’s predecessor, Biden, who introduced the CHIPS Act for that purpose. Biden focused on providing grants for projects rather than buying equity stakes.
Trump’s approach to buying stakes is more aligned with progressive Democrats than members of his own party. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has long been a supporter of the US government buying equity stakes in companies.
In August, after the White House bought an equity stake in Intel, Sanders applauded move
“Taxpayers should not be giving billions of dollars in corporate welfare to large, profitable corporations like Intel without getting anything in return,” Sanders said at the time.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, a Republican known for his libertarian stance, called ownership a “terrible idea” and referred to it as “a step toward socialism” on CNBC. Thom Tillis of North Carolina compared the Intel investment to something countries like China or Russia would do.
For Babak Hafezi, a professor of international business at American University, the investment is a step to eliminate any dependence on China.
“Without domestic control and flexibility in both production and production, we are dependent on China, which extracts about 60 percent of the world’s rare-earth minerals and produces 90 percent of them. This creates a major global chokepoint, and China can use this chokepoint as a tool to dictate American foreign policy through supply chain constraints,” he said.
“As such, establishing a free and open market for US consumption is critical to eliminating any dependency.”