President Trump claims that Ukraine has "essentially agreed" to give the United States half a trillion dollars in rare earth minerals as payment for military aid Washington has provided to Kyiv.
"They have extremely valuable land, rare earth minerals, oil and gas, etc. I want our money to be safe because we're spending hundreds of billions of dollars [in Ukraine]," Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
Trump, 78, has insisted that the United States should have access to Ukraine's natural resources regardless of whether a peace deal with Russia is reached, arguing that the "over $300 billion" the United States has provided to Ukraine dwarfs the investment from other countries.
"They may make a deal; they may not make a deal. One day, they may become Russian; one day, they may not. "But I want to return all that money we're giving Ukraine. I told them I want to get back about $500 billion worth of rare earths, and they've agreed to do that," Trump said.
