President Donald Trump had been planning to reach an agreement Friday with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to mine rare earth minerals there. However, Zelensky’s demands when he met with Trump in the White House derailed the plan.

However, it may not be a significant setback, as a second nation is already proposing a deal with America to give it access to rare earth.

The Washington Examiner reported that President Felix Tshisekedi of the Congo wants to have the U.S. support his nation’s fight against Rwandan-backed rebels in exchange for mining access.

“Eyeing the critical mineral deal President Donald Trump is striking with Ukraine, Tshisekedi is hoping to use his country’s vast mineral wealth to earn U.S. support,” the report explained.

“President Tshisekedi invites the USA, whose companies source strategic raw materials from Rwanda, materials that are looted from the [Democratic Republic of Congo] and smuggled to Rwanda while our populations are massacred, to purchase them directly from us the rightful owners,” a spokeswoman for Congo’s chief, Tina Salama, explained on social media.

She said the offer is good for Europe as well.

President Trump is a good thing, not just for America, but for the world. The Congo’s President Tshisekedi offered the U.S. ownership of rare earth minerals if President Trump steps in and ends the conflict in his country. God bless America. pic.twitter.com/DpjaScLIIw

— ꪻꫝể ꪻꫝể (@TheThe1776) February 25, 2025

The report explained Kinshasa has hired U.S. lobbyists on a $1.4 million, one-year contract to work on “engagements to advance defense security and critical mineral diplomacy with the United States.”

Congo is mineral rich, even though its population mostly is extremely poor.

There are resources including copper, diamonds, gold, and cobalt, as well as special interest elements tin, tungsten and tantalum, which are needed for consumer electronics.

The Examiner explained, “A United Nations report found that 150 tons of coltan, a vital resource used in smartphones and other electronics, were ‘fraudulently exported to Rwanda and mixed with Rwandan production.’ Congo estimates that Kigali is earning $1 billion in annual revenue from the smuggled metals, a massive amount for a country with a $13.3 billion GDP.”

Currently, Chinese interests control some two-thirds of cobalt refineries, and the Communist regime uses the results for electric vehicle production.

In recent weeks the U.S. has announced sanctions against several Rwandan officials and corporations.

The Congo, however, is not without its atrocities, with Christians being beheaded there by majority Islamic radicals.

In Congo, 70 Christians were beheaded inside a church in Kasanga by Islamist radicals. And there has been virtually no reportage on this story. But we have seen this tragedy repeated over and over throughout Africa, and the world ignores it. We cannot. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/jSbxIoF0pZ

— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) February 22, 2025