Trump’s Critical Minerals Deals Awarded to Companies with Short Track Record, Deep Ties to Administration
New report from Public Citizen details massive federal investment in critical mineral firms, some of which are less than nine months old
WASHINGTON — Weeks after Donald Trump sat across from mining executives and announced a more than $2 billion federal investment in critical minerals companies, a new report from Public Citizen today revealed how little experience some of these firms have in delivering critical minerals.
According to the report, Mining Billions in the Dark, among the companies participating in the President’s early August roundtable at the Department of State were firms that are only nine months old, connected to the administration’s family members or donors, associated with past fraud or fraud allegations, or whose financial backers remain largely hidden from public view.
The report comes on the same day that the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means will consider efforts to secure critical resources, where Melinda St. Louis, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, will testify about trade deals aimed at securing these minerals.
“It is extremely unclear how the Trump administration evaluated and selected the mining companies for these massive government financing commitments, and the lack of transparency is putting taxpayer money at risk,” said Abhilasha Bhola, climate campaigns director with Public Citizen’s Climate Program. “It is not just the equity stakes the administration has taken in mining companies that are cause for concern—these loans put the federal government in a position where it is responsible for overseeing and permitting projects in which it also holds a financial interest.”
Trump’s Department of State event was so haphazard, basic details of the August investments appeared to receive limited review, as the White House fact sheet misidentified the names of two of the companies that received a combined $110 million.
Among the attendees at the roundtable, Strategic Bauxite USA—which the White House initially called Standard Bauxite—appears to have been first registered as a business in Wyoming in December 2025. The company received $85 million as an equity investment despite the fact the company does not appear to have a functioning website, and its earliest press coverage appears to be when it purchased an existing bauxite mine in Guyana about a month ago.
Niron Magnetics, a Minnesota startup, received a $150 million conditional loan as part of Trump’s August announcement to pursue rare earth magnet projects. Niron Magnetics has previously received government grants to develop its rare-earth-metal-free magnets. This is the first time the company is receiving a loan from the government, forcing the company into a position that would require repayment and ultimately a return on investment, and conditional details and loan terms are not required to be disclosed to the public.
“The Trump administration is putting extraordinary financing authority in the hands of a small group of former private equity executives with little public accountability,” said Bhola. “The tangled relationships between the government officials picking private companies to invest taxpayer dollars in, the poor track record of the companies receiving loans, and a revolving door between private equity and government is highly concerning.The traditional mechanisms of government oversight simply aren’t capable of detangling the conflicts of interest. Taxpayers deserve better.”
Further Reading from Public Citizen:
- Critical Conflicts: Trump Subsidizes Dirty Mining at the Expense of Public Lands
- Written Testimony of Melinda St. Louis, Public Citizen for September 2, 2026 House Ways and Means Full Committee Hearing on Strategic Partnerships to Secure Critical Resources and Supply Chains
- “Trump’s U.S.-Malaysia Deal: Cementing Extractivist Colonialism,” December 2, 2025
- “Critical Minerals Trade Agreements Put Profits Over Human Rights and the Environment, Warn 35+ Organizations,” December 9, 2025
- “Trade and Critical Minerals: The Deadly Cost of Nickel Mining in Indonesia,” December 2025
- “Trade and Critical Minerals: The Deadly Cost of Cobalt Mining in the Congo,” October 2024
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