Since becoming president again, Trump has targeted the mineral resources of Canada, Greenland and Ukraine–especially rare earths and battery components–in his suggestions that the US somehow annex all three.

Three thoughts:

–I find it a little odd that Trump should at the same time be touting fossil fuels and wanting to acquire essential materials for EVs

–in 1970, the “hot” mining commodity was lead (because auto batteries would be forever). In 1980, when I added mining to my oil and gas repertoire, it was molybdenum, to make hardened steel. A few year later, it was copper–the main reason being that a prior glut had discouraged new investment in mines and demand had finally caught up with supply.

More generally, given the massive initial investment and long lead times involved in bringing a new mining project on-line, this is a classic boom/bust industry. Chemicals is another that comes to mind; autos, too, and EVs, as well. It’s hard to know how this factors into Trump’s thinking

–it’s not clear, certainly in the case of Ukraine and probably for Greenland, whether their deposits are large enough and concentrated enough for mining projects to actually be commercially viable

Other than the subway mugging vibe behind these demands, I find it hard to deduce the reasoned plan behind making them.