Trump, Zelenskyy Signing Mineral Deal as Trump Says US Taxpayers Are Getting Their Money Back

WASHINGTON – President Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday to discuss a mineral deal and the war with Russia. 

Trump and Zelenskyy are expected to sign an economic deal that would give the U.S. a share of profits from Ukraine's minerals as repayment for the billions in aid given by the U.S. The deal is part of a broader cease-fire effort to end the three-year-long war.

Friday's meeting comes after the president sat down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday.

"This is a letter from His Majesty, the King. It's an invitation for a second state visit. This is really special. This has never happened before," said Starmer, who presented a special invitation from King Charles III for a second UK visit, accepted by President Trump.
 
The top focus in the meeting for Starmer and Trump, however, was Friday's high-stakes meeting with Zelenskyy.

"We're going to be signing really a very important agreement for both sides because it's really going to get us into that country," said Trump.

This agreement between the president and Zelenskyy would give the U.S access to Ukraine's deposits of critical rare earth minerals. Trump indicated the deal would serve as a backstop for Ukraine's security, as Ukraine hopes the U.S. continues to provide much-needed military support.

"I have a feeling it's going to work out very well. They're talking about a very long-term powerful lease, a very strong lease, about 140 years, actually," he said.

However, some analysts have raised questions about how many rare earth deposits Ukraine actually has. Others are concerned that some of these minerals are in territory now controlled by Russia.

Details on this plan aren't clear yet, but according to Ukraine's prime minister, it could include five rare minerals. The U.S. and Kyiv would manage a fund for those deposits on "equal terms." 

He says Ukraine would contribute 50 percent of future proceeds to this fund from state-owned mineral resources, plus oil and gas. The fund would then invest in Ukraine-focused projects.

"We need the rare earth, and we have some here, but we don't have enough where our economy is very strong, and we need a lot of things that in some cases, we don't have here," Trump said.

But some voiced concern on Thursday that this "backstop" isn't strong enough to permanently prevent future invasions.

During the joint press conference with Starmer, one reporter asked, "Mr. President, Mr. Starmer, the Prime Minister has said that he believes that Vladimir Putin would be at risk of invading Ukraine again without a sufficient backstop. Do you think that Vladimir Putin would be likely to invade again in the event of a peace deal?" 

"I don't think so, thousands of people are being killed a week," Trump said. "Number one, we want to see that stop. And number two, I want to stop paying the kind of money that we're talking about. You know, we're helping, and we're helping NATO, but we're helping a lot more than anybody else by far."

When asked if Ukraine will join NATO as part of this deal, Trump responded. "I could be very nice and say, oh, well, we'll work to it. Look, it's not going to happen."

Ahead of Starmer's visit, the UK announced a big increase in the British defense budget and has agreed to help enforce peace once a deal is made. Meanwhile, President Trump said the deal with Ukraine would help American taxpayers "get their money back" for aid sent to Ukraine throughout the war.

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