President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he expects a deal to come together this week with Ukraine to give the United States access to rare earth minerals.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the White House’s initial offer, drawing the ire of Mr. Trump, who labeled Mr. Zelenskyy a “dictator” and blamed him for starting the war with Russia.
Mr. Trump insists that American taxpayers should be compensated for past and future military aid to Ukraine. At the same time, Mr. Zelenskyy wants the deal to include security guarantees and continued military support to deter future Russian aggression.
“I expect to see a deal signed this week,” Mr. Witkoff said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “You saw President Zelenskyy waver in his commitment toward that a week ago. The president sent a message to him. He’s not wavering anymore. I think there’s a reason he’s not wavering. It’s because he realizes that we have done so much … and I think you’ll see it signed this week.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the latest proposal does not include a military guarantee but does include an “economic security guarantee.”
“The more assets that U.S. companies have on the ground, the bigger interest that the U.S. has in the future of [the] Ukrainian economy doing well, the more security it creates for the Ukrainian people, and the higher the return for the U.S. taxpayer,” Mr. Bessent said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo.”
The negotiations over the minerals deal come as the Trump administration also looks to strike a deal to end the Ukraine-Russia war. U.S. and Russian officials held “positive” peace talks without Ukraine last week in Saudi Arabia.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt signaled momentum on that front.
“The president, his team are very much focused on continuing negotiations with both sides of this war to end the conflict and the president is very confident we can get it done this week,” she told reporters.
Mr. Trump has made the case that American taxpayers are getting a raw deal because they are not getting a return on the money they have sent Ukraine.
“I’m trying to get the money back,” Mr. Trump said Saturday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. “Europe has given $100 billion. The United States has given $350 billion.”
“Europe gave it in the form of a loan. They get their money back. We gave it in the form of nothing.”
The initial deal dictated that U.S. companies must hold 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare earth elements deposits. The minerals are used in the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries.
The Trump administration believes getting access to the minerals would make the U.S. less reliant on China.
Democrats are not thrilled with the Trump administration’s approach.
On Sunday, Jim Hines, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, likened the approach to organized crime’s strong-arm tactics.
“It just looks like an episode of ’The Sopranos,’ right? Give us your minerals or we are not going to help you fight a bloody butcher,” the Connecticut Democrat, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Is this really what we want the greatest country in history to be known for? For like some mafia thing?”
However, Mr. Hines said he hopes that when Ukraine starts to rebuild, “it will be remembered that the United States stepped up to help Ukraine defeat Russia.”
“Of course, when Ukraine is rebuilt, I would hope we would get a significant slice of that business, but we have never done this before,” he said. “We never went to Winston Churchill and said, ‘Hey, unless you give us half of London to build hotels we are not going to help you against Hitler.’”
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said Mr. Trump is working on ending the war in a “way that is beneficial to Ukraine and certainly beneficial to the American taxpayer.”
“President Trump has been clear he wants to end the war. He wants to stop the killing,” the Ohio Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “He doesn’t always operate in the most conventional way when it comes to negotiating, but the results speak for themselves.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.