According to coverage in The Guardian, President Donald Trump said during a Feb. 10 interview on Fox News: “We are going to have all this money in there [Ukraine], and I say I want it back. And I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare earth,” Trump said. “And they have essentially agreed to do that, so at least we don’t feel stupid.”
Speaking to reporters Feb. 12, Trump noted that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is currently in Ukraine, where he is reportedly signing a document wherein the U.S. will be “assured that we’re going to, in some form, get this money back,” Trump claimed.
Antiwar.com reported last weekend that Zelenskyy had said Ukraine is favorable to a deal along these lines with Trump. “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it,” Zelenskyy told Reuters. The Ukrainian leader insisted the deal wouldn’t involve “giving away” Ukraine’s resources, and, rather, framed it as a partnership. “The Americans helped the most, and therefore, the Americans should earn the most. And they should have this priority, and they will. I would also like to talk about this with President Trump,” Zelenskyy said.
In his Fox News interview on Feb. 10, Trump also discussed Ukraine’s disastrous position, and the need to end the war: “They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian some day, or they may not be Russian some day,” he said.
