Trump instructed to compile a list of lands with mineral deposits

US President Donald Trump has instructed United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs Doug Bergam to compile a list of all federal lands with mineral deposits within 10 days. This follows from the decree of the head of state, published on the official website of the White House on March 20.

"Within 10 days from the date of issuing this order, the Minister of the Interior must determine and provide <...> a list of all federal lands known to have mineral deposits and reserves," the American leader instructed.

In addition, he signed a decree according to which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright should help attract private capital to mining projects.

They are also responsible for ensuring that representatives of other ministries in the country provide such commercial organizations with all possible assistance to participate in projects for the extraction of rare earth resources.

So much, but not enough: what are rare earth metals and what are they for?

In 2025, Russia began to actively develop the industry

Earlier, on March 18, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said that Russia could cooperate with the United States and other countries in the field of rare earth metals, and there was certainly interest from the American side. He noted that Russia has impressive reserves of rare earth metals, which are many times higher than those in Ukraine, and they are much more economically profitable in terms of production.