The administration of President Donald Trump is using a program from the administration of former President Barack Obama to increase the United States' minerals supply. 

This is according to a new report from the Washington Examiner. 

Trump, as we will see, has been adamant about securing minerals for the United States, signing multiple executive orders toward this end, including this one:

President Trump is UNLEASHING America's offshore critical minerals and resources.🇺🇸 This bold move will:

✅ Strengthen our economy
⚡️ Secure American energy
🚫 Reduce dependence on foreign suppliers
🛑 Counter China's growing influence over seabed minerals pic.twitter.com/moF9HW2bni

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 24, 2025

Here's what's going on:

According to the Examiner, the Trump administration is using the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41) to increase domestic mineral production.

Per the outlet:

To counter China, the Trump administration is using the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, also known as FAST-41, to boost the domestic production of critical minerals. This federal program, which began during former President Barack Obama's second term, helps streamline the permitting process for critical infrastructure projects.

The Examiner goes on to detail how the program was expanded by the Biden administration.

It writes:

The Permitting Council oversees the program, which covers about 19 economic sectors, including transportation, semiconductors, and renewable energy. The program was not expanded to include mining until the Biden administration. Now, the program includes six mining projects, five of which were added this year.

It would thus appear that this is one area in which recent Republican and Democratic presidents agree.

The importance of minerals

As mentioned earlier, Trump has made the obtaining of critical minerals for America a top priority. The Examiner helps to explain why.

It explains:

Critical minerals are essential to the defense and energy sectors. However, the United States relies on China and other foreign countries to mine and process minerals. China dominates the supply chain, producing 60% of global critical minerals and accounting for 85% of the world's processing capacity.

Obviously, the United States does not want to be reliant on China, especially considering the fact that the two countries are not exactly allies.

The Examiner goes on to provide more detail about the importance of critical minerals, writing:

Mining is of particular concern because critical minerals are needed to build electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels, grid storage, and nuclear power. In other words, they are key to advancing the energy sector, which faces an enormous ramp-up in demand in the coming years from manufacturing and artificial intelligence.

This is why Trump is pushing so hard to secure critical minerals for the United States.