Metals are the new oil, JD Vance pitches to America: ‘There’s no realer thing than critical minerals’

As the foundations of the U.S. economy and future growth are increasingly built around digital assets, the Trump administration wants to remind Americans that commodities they can see and touch are still very much in play. Past presidents have tried to steer markets away from speculative behavior by focusing on the fundamentals of the world’s most widely traded physical good: oil. But for Trump and his officials, there is another tangible commodity that has simply become too important to ignore.

“There is no realer thing than oil—and I would add to that there’s no realer thing than critical minerals,” Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday. 

Vance was addressing ministers from 55 countries, who this week gathered in Washington to discuss a critical minerals trading bloc. Such a partnership would be designed to undermine China’s stranglehold on the mining of key elements integral to everything from smartphones to electric cars to fighter jets—the foundations of very real economic value that could rival the strategic importance of petroleum. 

Trump has taken big steps toward increasing the U.S. presence in the global market for critical minerals, elements including cobalt and lithium as well as valuable rare earth metals. This month, in addition to a minerals-focused trading bloc with allies, the administration ...