The Trump administration announced two sweeping moves Monday aimed at strengthening America’s control over critical minerals — including overturning a key Biden-era environmental decision and investing directly in a foreign mining company.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order reversing President Joe Biden’s 2024 decision to block the construction of a 211-mile access road to Alaska’s Ambler mining district. The road is seen as essential for tapping into vast U.S. reserves of copper and other critical minerals.
“This is something that should have been long operating and making billions of dollars for our country and supplying a lot of energy and minerals and everything else that we are talking about,” Trump said during the Oval Office signing ceremony.
At the same time, the White House revealed a $35.6 million investment in Trilogy Metals, a Canada-based company with interests in developing parts of the Ambler district. The deal grants the U.S. government a 10% equity stake, along with warrants to buy another 7.5%.
Biden had previously blocked the road, citing concerns from his Interior Department that mining operations could harm caribou and fish populations vital to local Native communities.
The move fits into Trump’s broader strategy to cut U.S. dependence on China for key materials vital to industries such as energy, technology, and defense.
In recent months, the administration has taken similar steps. The Department of Energy restructured a deal with Lithium Americas last month, giving the U.S. warrants for a 5% stake in both the company and its Thacker Pass lithium joint venture with General Motors.
In August, the government acquired a 9.9% stake in Intel worth $8.9 billion, while the Pentagon invested $400 million in MP Materials in July to expand domestic rare-earth magnet production at its California mine — the only one currently operating in the U.S.