This article appears in “ The Scramble for Critical Minerals ,” FP’s collection of essential articles on a through line in U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign-policy agenda. Explore the full collection .
In the whirlwind that has been U.S. President Donald Trump’s first month back in the Oval Office, analysts, officials, and diplomats have scrambled to understand the returning U.S. leader’s scattered—and often outlandish—foreign-policy fixations. After all, what do Canada, Greenland, Panama, and Ukraine really have in common?
Absorbing Canada into the United States. Taking over Greenland. Seizing the Panama Canal. Controlling Ukraine’s natural resources.
In the whirlwind that has been U.S. President Donald Trump’s first month back in the Oval Office, analysts, officials, and diplomats have scrambled to understand the returning U.S. leader’s scattered—and often outlandish—foreign-policy fixations. After all, what do Canada, Greenland, Panama, and Ukraine really have in common?
One answer could be potential access to China-free supply chains for critical minerals, the resources underpinning everything from advanced weapons systems to gr
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