Inside the secret genius of the Ukraine mineral deal

President Trump has just struck one big, beautiful deal with Ukraine — and its impact could reach far beyond rare earth minerals.Unveiled yesterday by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the agreement does more than open Ukraine’s vast mineral reserves to US investment.It closes a lingering rift between President Trump and President Zelensky over American support for Kyiv, while catapulting US firms to the forefront of Ukraine’s postwar mining and reconstruction boom.“Our money is secure and we can start digging,” Trump said at yesterday’s cabinet meeting.“The American presence will keep a lot of bad actors out.”Trump was not just warning off the likes of Russia but positioning the United States as a major player in Ukraine’s economy.Both Bessent and Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko were all smiles at yesterday’s signing ceremony.

Bessent called it a “great deal” for Washington and Kyiv.“It’s win-win,” he said.Under the arrangement, both sides will form a Joint Reconstruction Investment Fund — co-managed on a 50/50 basis.Kyiv retains full sovereignty over its natural resources.

According to Ukrainian parliamentarians who must approve the deal, Washington can count its future military assistance as a financial contribution to the fund.Bessent’s negotiating genius was to expand the agreement beyond mining.Ukraine famously holds roughly 5% of the world’s critical materials, including titanium, lithium and rare earths that are needed to manufacture everything from electronics to precision weapons.But Ukraine is also on the cusp of a massive reconstruction boom.According to a World Bank estimate, rebuilding the country after Russia’s invasion could cost $524 billion over the next decade.

The deal potentially puts American firms at the front of the line for reconstruction contracts.“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and ...