Trump hosts a mining industry roundtable at the State Department

[0:08] Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. [0:13] That's a very nice song. I love that song. [1:01] Because that means you won, basically. [1:05] If we didn't, we wouldn't hear that song very much. [1:08] But I want to thank everybody's special people. [1:11] People that built our country are here. [1:15] And you really haven't. [1:16] I was just looking at my notes, and I could do this one without any notes, [1:21] because there's a great love for what you do. [1:24] And I think you haven't been treated well for many years. [1:26] But you're making up for it now. [1:29] You're really making up for it now. [1:31] So it's an honor. [1:32] And I'm delighted to be here at the Department of State [1:35] to announce some of the largest ever investments in American mining. [1:41] A great thing mining is. [1:44] We're putting our miners back to work, [1:47] and we're reclaiming America's rightful place [1:50] as the minerals superpower of the world, which is what we are. [1:54] People just didn't know that for a while. [1:55] I want to thank our great Secretary of State, [1:58] Marco Rubio, for hosting us. [2:00] It's a beautiful building, boy. [2:02] You know, I look at the president's allowed to remove things from any building. [2:06] And I'm liking the chandeliers. [2:10] I really, I like those Corinthian columns, [2:13] but I don't know, cutting them out would be not good. [2:16] Those are beautiful columns. [2:18] But I'm allowed to do it. [2:20] Every once in a while, I'll come in here and grab a painting [2:22] and put it at the Oval Office, right? [2:24] But not too much. [2:26] But I want to thank Marco. [2:28] I want to thank Secretary of Interior, Doug Burgum, [2:31] who's done a fantastic job. [2:33] Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, likewise, [2:35] and as well as Executive Director of the National Energy Dominance Council, [2:41] Jared Agin. [2:43] Thank you, Jared. [2:44] And thank you all. [2:45] I love that, the Dominance Council. [2:47] I've never heard that one before. [2:48] That's a hell of a name. [2:50] Where's Jared? [2:51] Where's Jared? [2:53] Hi, Jared. [2:54] I like that. [2:55] Did you make up that? [2:56] Did you come up with that? [2:57] That's all you, sir. [2:58] You came up with that one. [3:00] I think it's pretty good. [3:02] Thanks as well to the leaders of many of America's great mining companies [3:06] who are here and educational institutions [3:09] who are also joining us today. [3:11] 250 years ago, America won our political independence [3:14] in the Revolutionary War. [3:16] In my first term, we secured our energy independence. [3:20] And now, in my second term, we're achieving our economic independence, [3:25] ensuring that America is never again reliant on hostile foreign nations [3:29] for the resources our country needs to dominate in the future. [3:35] And we have plenty of those resources. [3:36] Critical minerals are the raw materials of American strength [3:40] that power everything from advanced weaponry to automobiles. [3:44] And we want these essential products to be mined, refined, [3:48] and made right here in the USA. [3:50] With the American skill and American hands, [3:54] we have better skill and we have better hands than anybody in the world. [3:58] For decades, politicians let other countries steal our mines. [4:02] And mining jobs that close up mines. [4:06] They'd buy a mine and close it because it was good for them [4:09] and put American producers out of business. [4:12] The United States lost more than 3,400 mines. [4:16] Can you imagine? [4:17] 3,400. [4:19] I thought they were going to say miners or jobs. [4:21] It's mines. [4:23] 3,400 mines over the past three decades. [4:27] That's sad. [4:28] But now they're coming back and they're coming back faster. [4:31] Many of those mines are being reopened and a lot of new mines are being built. [4:36] Over the past 18 months, our administration has signed or approved more than 160 minerals deals [4:42] worth nearly $40 billion. [4:44] And today, the United States is opening up new mines at the fastest pace since the 1950s. [4:50] There's never, nobody's seen anything like it. [4:52] And that goes for auto plants, too, and AI and so many other kinds of plants. [4:57] We have nine, think of this. [4:59] We have, in a short period of time, a year and a half, and it's, the numbers are for the first 12 months, actually, [5:07] but figure a year and a half, we have $19.2 trillion being invested. [5:12] The previous administration had much less than $1 trillion in four years. [5:17] We have 19.2 in actually 12 months, but we'll add something to it. [5:22] So it's now going to be over $20 trillion. [5:25] And, by the way, no country ever in history has done anywhere near that number. [5:29] We're five to six times higher than certain of our competitors from very successful competitors, [5:37] but we're much higher. [5:38] Nobody's seen what's happening today in our country. [5:40] Nobody has seen anything like it. [5:43] And hopefully you'll see it again, but only for us. [5:46] I think it's going to be hard to match, however. [5:48] Today, the United States is opening new mines at the fastest pace, [5:52] and we opened the first American rare earth mine in more than 70 years. [5:57] What's that all about, Marco? [5:58] We've announced the construction of the first new aluminum smelter since 1980. [6:04] It's going to be a big one. [6:06] I mean, if it's the same one, building a massive, beautiful job-producing smelter in Oklahoma. [6:14] I love Oklahoma because they have 77 counties. [6:18] I won all 77 three times, right? [6:21] You know? [6:21] Oh, he's looking at you, right? [6:23] Nobody's... [6:23] You know who his second was? [6:24] Ronald Reagan, 56. [6:26] That's pretty good, right? [6:28] I like Oklahoma. [6:30] We authorized deep-sea mining to unlock vast, untapped resources off our coast, [6:35] and we're rebuilding the national defense stockpile [6:39] and investing more than $12 billion in a brand-new strategic mineral reserve, [6:44] and we're protecting American workers with historic tariffs on foreign copper, aluminum, steel, [6:49] so that our people are protected. [6:52] And the tariffs are what made this so successful, the proper use of tariffs, [6:57] but they're really what made this so successful. [7:00] You probably heard me during my campaign. [7:02] I used to say the word tariff is my favorite word, and the fake news, see them back there? [7:07] They're all back there. [7:08] And they'd say, what a terrible thing to say. [7:11] What about God, wife, country, love? [7:15] I said, so I made it my fifth favorite word. [7:19] Now I have no problem. [7:20] Oh, they hit me hard when I said tariff was my all-time favorite word. [7:24] It didn't play well, but it's a solid number five, and now I'm okay. [7:28] But American miners have never had a greater champion in the White House than President Donald Trump. [7:35] And before I took off his federal mining permits, it took three, four, or even five years. [7:40] Now they take as little as 25 days. [7:44] So we went from five years for approvals to get them, and nobody was doing it anyway. [7:49] It took too long and just wasn't working. [7:52] So now we go from five years to 25 days for approval. [7:55] Under the Great Big Beautiful Bill, we secured an unprecedented $100 billion to underwrite critical investments in our mineral supply. [8:05] And for the first time ever, we are even making direct equity investments in critical mineral production. [8:11] Last July, the Department of War took a $400 million stake in MP materials, which is already worth nearly $1.2 billion. [8:22] It's gone up greatly in value. [8:23] I did one of those, too, but not quite in the same business. [8:27] Intel, we had a problem with Intel, and we settled the problem. [8:35] They gave us 10% of the company. [8:37] That was worth $12 billion. [8:39] And since we had the company, you saw it, you've probably been watching, the stock has gone up many, many times, just about number one. [8:46] And we made $82 billion. [8:49] Do I get credit for that? [8:50] No. [8:51] Did anybody say, great job? [8:53] And by the way, it's for the country. [8:54] It's not for me. [8:55] It's for the country. [8:55] I have to be very plent about that. [8:58] But no, we've made about 80. [9:00] Howard, it's pretty close to $80 billion, a profit of $80 billion by helping a company out. [9:07] We're doing it a lot, actually. [9:09] We're doing it a lot. [9:09] Today, we're taking another historic action toward the future of American mining. [9:14] For years, mining schools and colleges that are essential to training the future leaders of this industry have been absolutely and sadly disappearing. [9:23] Accredited mining programs in the United States now graduate less than 170 mining engineers each year, [9:31] while China graduates more than 3,000, and half of our current mining workforce is set to retire within the next three years. [9:38] Well, that's why my administration is making an unprecedented financial commitment to our nation's mining schools. [9:47] It's going to keep us nice and young and vibrant. [9:50] The schools came to us seeking $10 million per year in funding. [9:55] Instead, I'm thrilled to announce that we're delivering $100 million to train the next generation of American miners. [10:02] And you have a lot of you who are in the room right now. [10:16] And, you know, I'm not doing that because I'm a nice person. [10:18] I'm doing that because it's great for the country. [10:20] It's great for the country. [10:22] And it also helps a lot of people. [10:24] And they want to mine. [10:25] You know, I've seen it. [10:26] And we had a little campaign against somebody named Hillary Clinton. [10:31] And she wanted the miners of West Virginia to learn how to make chips, little tiny chips with their big, strong hands. [10:38] And they were not – I won by 55 points. [10:41] They were not thrilled. [10:42] They didn't want to be doing – they wanted to be in the mines. [10:45] That's what they want to do. [10:46] They don't want to do anything else. [10:48] And I remember that. [10:49] It was so unbelievable. [10:51] It was very, very good for me. [10:54] I'll tell you what. [10:55] She didn't get that – we did very well with that kind of thinking. [10:59] But we're also making major grants to the Colorado School of Mines, the South Dakota School of Mines, [11:05] and the Johns Hopkins-RTX partnership. [11:08] And together, those grants are worth $81 million. [11:11] It's going to train people, work with people. [11:13] And we're going to put you right back on the front pages. [11:16] That's what you have to be. [11:17] In addition, today, my administration is announcing a series of historic mining projects worth $3 billion, [11:24] which will create thousands of jobs and promote our economic stability and security. [11:30] The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital is signing a massive $1.4 billion loan agreement [11:37] with sealant nanotechnologies to build a next-generation battery facility in Washington State using what we have right under our feet. [11:47] The Export-Import Bank is working to provide more than $1 billion to finance the Ivano Electrics Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona, [11:57] one of the biggest anywhere in the world. [11:59] The Ex-Im Bank is launching the Alabama Graphite Project, a $25 million investment, [12:06] as well as the Fort Cady integrated boron facility in Southern California. [12:14] And it's going to be something. [12:16] We broke out. [12:17] We broke through the environmental disasters. [12:19] You had environmental people. [12:23] Look, I'm an environmental person, believe it or not. [12:26] But you had people that were just stopping it. [12:27] They were using the environment to stop all of these things. [12:30] The Department of War is investing $400 million to expand production of scandium, [12:37] one of the world's most valuable aerospace and defense materials in Australia. [12:42] The Department of War is also investing $150 million with Nairon Magnetics in Minnesota. [12:50] Minnesota? [12:51] Whoa. [12:52] What the hell happened to Minnesota? [12:53] The governor is totally corrupt, but we won't talk about that. [12:58] That's for another day, corrupt and incompetent, a bad combination. [13:02] To build rare earth magnets. [13:04] Magnets? [13:05] You've got to go with magnets. [13:06] That's a good one. [13:07] Everybody should go for magnets. [13:09] They're really badly needed. [13:11] And Global Advanced Metals will build a major new factory in southeastern Pennsylvania [13:15] to support cutting-edge defense and aerospace systems. [13:19] Together, we're reawakening the spirit of the gold rush, [13:23] the prospectors and the great pioneers of this country, [13:27] people who built the United States of America. [13:29] And very simply, we're making mining great again, [13:33] and the United States is doing better than it's ever done, maybe ever done. [13:37] So I just want to thank you, and I'll now ask Secretary Rubio to say a few words, [13:41] and then we'll hear from some of the wonderful people we have up here. [13:46] Secretary Burgum, in this order. [13:48] Secretary Lutnik, Executive Director of the University of Arizona, [13:51] School of Mining and Engineering and Minerals. [13:54] Cray Luxbacher, President of Colorado School of Mines. [13:59] Paul Johnson, CEO of MP Materials. [14:02] Jim Letinsky, who I know your brother. [14:05] He's a nice guy, by the way. [14:06] I assume it's your brother. [14:07] Where is Jim? [14:08] Right? [14:08] That's right. [14:10] Andy. [14:11] Yes. [14:12] Your brother. [14:12] Yes. [14:13] Okay, well, he's a smart guy, and so you. [14:14] Thank you. [14:15] And President of Resolution Copper, Vicky Pisi. [14:20] So, we'll go. [14:21] I didn't know I was going to have so many people. [14:22] I'll be here all day. [14:24] If you could go quickly, I would appreciate it, [14:26] because we have a war to prosecute, okay? [14:28] That's my excuse for getting out of here a little bit early. [14:31] But I've done my thing only in the sense that we're spending hundreds of millions of dollars, [14:36] and even billions of dollars in bringing your industry back. [14:40] And we need your industry. [14:41] We're not doing you favors. [14:42] We're doing ourselves favors. [14:43] We need your industry. [14:45] People wouldn't talk about it, but we do indeed. [14:48] Marco, please. [14:48] Thank you, Mr. President. [14:49] Thank you for coming to the State Department. [14:52] We like this room a lot, too. [14:54] And obviously, don't look back. [14:55] There's a painting up here. [14:56] Uh-oh. [15:00] That's a good one. [15:02] I'm taking it with me. [15:04] I shouldn't have said anything. [15:06] But anyway, Mr. President, thank you for being here. [15:08] Thank you for your leadership on this topic. [15:10] It's a challenge we face in this domain that actually goes to the very survival of the country. [15:15] And thank you for giving it a priority in your presidency. [15:17] This has been going on for 25 years. [15:19] We've been walking away from the importance of this. [15:21] And now we're trying to make up for 25 or 30 years of mistakes under your presidency. [15:25] So we appreciate your presidency valuing this when other presidents did not. [15:29] The group of people that are here today represent the whole-of-nation effort that's involved in this. [15:33] Because at the core of this is our industrial strength, but also our national sovereignty. [15:38] That we never depend on other countries for things we need to prosper and to defend ourselves as a people. [15:43] And so you'll see here today, as you've already pointed out, we have leaders not just from government, [15:46] but from universities, from private industry, from students who are going to be the future of this industry. [15:52] I wanted to briefly, very briefly, touch on what the State Department's done. [15:55] You know, earlier this year, we had a critical minerals ministerial. [15:58] We brought in countries from all over the world to announce the creation of something called FORGE. [16:03] which is an international partnership chaired by us in the United States to leverage public finance [16:08] and coordinate diplomatic support to secure these supply chains around the world. [16:12] At that meeting, we signed 11 new critical minerals agreements with countries adding to the ones that already existed. [16:19] Today, under your administration, we've already signed 27 critical mineral agreements with other countries. [16:25] We also, under the leadership of someone who needs to be recognized, our undersecretary, Jacob Hellberg. [16:29] I don't know if Jacob is here, but Jacob's been phenomenal. [16:33] He came up with something called Paxilica, and it's an initiative that leads our efforts to partner with the private sector [16:38] and invest in mining and refining and in processing as well as the end-use applications of that. [16:43] There's still a lot of work left to do, but we at the State Department are willing to utilize our unmatched global presence, [16:49] our presence all over the world to ensure that we're working on this. [16:52] And we're committed to working with industry, with universities, with all the elements of our national power to bring this about. [16:58] And so thank you, Mr. President, for prioritizing this. [17:01] And I think we all look forward to working, not just nationally, but with our allies around the world [17:06] to ensure that we have supply chains that are diversified and reliable, [17:10] and no country can ever hold this over our head and threaten us in the future. [17:14] Thank you. [17:14] Thank you, Marco, very much. [17:16] Thank you. [17:16] Doing a fantastic job, too, I will tell you that. [17:19] Well, sir, today is a day of gratitude, and we're grateful, first of all, [17:24] to have a president that understands the importance of this industry [17:27] and understand that our future depends on restoring American mining. [17:32] And I'm also grateful that we've got students, educators, and industry leaders together in this room [17:36] for the first time, we think, in the history that any president has called this group together. [17:41] So, again, thank you all for being here for this historic day. [17:45] It's true the president has supported American mining more than any other president in history. [17:49] And it's true that with the announcements made today, he's now supported mining education [17:55] more than any other president in history. [17:58] And we owe you a lot for that, Mr. President. [18:00] We also, when you first took office, you declared an energy emergency, [18:04] which included critical minerals as part of that. [18:06] You created the National Energy Dominance Council. [18:08] We've got some of those partners that are right here. [18:11] And whether it's Marco with the 27 bilateral agreements, you know, going to 51 countries, [18:16] whether it's Howard with the trade deals and the investments that are being made, [18:20] then the National Security Council, David Copley, and everybody working on supply chain, [18:25] Jared Hagen and the NEDC doing all of this work. [18:28] It's a whole-of-government approach. [18:29] You understood that we had to turn the ship around. [18:32] It took every agency, every working together, and your leadership has driven that. [18:36] Across the interior, it's included the U.S. Geologic Survey. [18:39] We've got Andrew Travnik here in the front row, who's the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, [18:45] which include that. [18:46] But getting these things like Geologic Survey back to their core mission, which is mapping. [18:51] The critical minerals list comes out of the U.S. Geologic Survey. [18:54] We've expanded that to 60 critical minerals, and for the first time we put coal back on that list [18:59] because that's also such an important part of mining. [19:02] And as you know, President Trump, everybody in your administration is slashing red tape, [19:05] accelerating permitting, but permits don't build mines. [19:09] People do, and that's why the investments that are made today related to reimagining the workforce [19:16] and supporting these institutions are so great. [19:20] America, it's estimated, graduates more than 30,000 lawyers every year, [19:24] but you heard the President say less than 200 mining and metallurgical degree students. [19:29] That has to change with a $100 million historic investment, and the other investments announced today, [19:34] the anticipation and the challenge to those 14 schools that are all here today [19:39] is to double or triple the number of graduates in the next two years. [19:44] And again, President Trump, even though those are all amazing things, [19:49] the most important thing that you've done is you've restored America's belief [19:52] that we can do big, bold, hard things again. [19:56] When you were campaigning, you talked about drill, baby, drill, [19:58] and some people scoffed at that, but under that vision of energy abundance, [20:03] America now, the number one oil producer, number one natural gas producer, [20:08] number one LNG exporter, all of that in 18 months, [20:12] this industry is poised to do the exactly same thing, [20:15] to revive itself and become a world leader. [20:18] And it's going to be powered by the next generation of American entrepreneurs, [20:21] engineers, geologists, and skilled miners. [20:24] And so, President Trump, this group is here. [20:25] You've proven that we can drill, baby, drill. [20:28] This group is here to prove that we can mine, baby, mine. [20:31] And with the – to supporting that, we're going to map, baby, map, [20:35] and we're going to put American mining back on the map. [20:37] So, thank you, sir. [20:38] Thank you very much. [20:39] And it's something that we maybe should say. [20:41] We do more oil right now than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined, [20:46] and that's not including Venezuela, where we're getting a lot of oil, [20:51] and good relationship we have with them, too, but a lot of oil. [20:54] But we do without even including Venezuela. [20:56] We're doing more oil than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined. [21:00] Isn't that something? [21:01] That's a big difference. [21:03] Howard, please. [21:04] So, let's be clear. [21:05] Critical minerals are more than an economic issue. [21:08] They are a national security issue. [21:10] If we want to lead in advanced manufacturing, AI, semiconductors, energy defense, [21:15] we can't depend on our foreign adversaries for the materials that underpin our industries. [21:22] We just can't. [21:23] And that's why the president tasked us to rebuild the supply chain [21:26] and make it a top priority of his administration and my department. [21:31] So, our objective is very simple. [21:33] We're going to mine here. [21:35] We're going to process here. [21:36] We're going to refine here. [21:37] We're going to manufacture here. [21:38] And we're going to create those American jobs right here. [21:42] So, our Section 232 tariffs, right, where we strengthened our steel, [21:47] our aluminum, and our copper industries. [21:49] And let's just talk about what that's created. [21:51] So, I have Jesse Gary on my left. [21:53] I went down to visit his aluminum smelter, [21:56] and he's building the one in Oklahoma. [22:00] Jesse's doing the one in Oklahoma, [22:01] where he's going to double the aluminum production by the United States of America. [22:05] So, that's pretty amazing. [22:06] That's going to be a great success. [22:06] Then, of course, we're doing steel in Alabama. [22:09] I mean, these are the first types of smelters and furnaces [22:14] that America's had in 40 or 50 years. [22:18] And it's only because of your leadership [22:20] and the 232 tariffs which you've been driving. [22:23] So, the CHIPS program, right, [22:25] we gave Korea Zinc $7.4 billion [22:28] to build a critical mineral smelter right here in the United States. [22:32] Vulcan Elements $1.4 billion [22:34] also to build right here in the United States, right? [22:38] Another, Robert is sitting next to me. [22:40] We invested in iPulse. [22:42] That's his high-tech mining company [22:44] to change the way mining is done. [22:47] And so, we have an investment with him. [22:48] And the goal, of course, is not just more minerals. [22:50] It's the full industrial supply chain on American soil. [22:55] You have to remember, we lost critical minerals [22:57] not because of free markets. [23:00] It's because of foreign subsidies, market distortion, [23:04] export restrictions, stockpiling. [23:06] These adversaries have just cheated their way to market strength. [23:10] And we are back and we're fighting it. [23:12] So, we're not going to accept dependence on foreign supplies. [23:15] We're just not. [23:15] That's why we're working across the world, as Marco pointed out, [23:19] to expand our global allies [23:22] and make sure we're doing it together. [23:24] So, we're going to secure reliable supply. [23:26] We're going to strengthen our global partnerships. [23:29] We're going to back American companies. [23:31] We're going to make sure the United States, not our adversaries, [23:34] controls the supply chains of power [23:37] and critical minerals for our country and our future. [23:41] The bottom line, we need to control our supply chain. [23:43] And under your leadership, we are executing on that. [23:48] And it is coming. [23:49] We will mine. [23:50] We will process. [23:51] We will refine right here in America under the Trump presidency. [23:56] Thank you. [23:56] Thank you very much. [23:57] And Cray, where's Cray? [23:59] I'm here, sir. [24:01] Thank you. [24:01] Mr. Go ahead. [24:01] Mr. President, first, I want to thank you. [24:04] This is a historic investment in American mining engineering schools, [24:07] and we're really grateful. [24:08] I also want to say thank you for what you've already done [24:11] towards accelerating permitting for mining in the United States. [24:14] It's really been unbelievable. [24:17] And you've created pathways for industry. [24:19] And now, in order to achieve American mineral dominance, [24:22] we really need technology and talent. [24:24] And your American mining schools are ready to get to work. [24:27] So thank you. [24:28] Thank you very much. [24:29] Thank you. [24:30] Thank you, Mr. President, [24:32] and thank you so much for your leadership. [24:33] I think the message of the day is we need to mine, [24:37] refine, and make things in America. [24:39] And I'm pleased to report to you, actually, [24:42] this has been, because this has been a call to action from you for a long time [24:47] to make magnets, I'm pleased to show you, actually, [24:49] these are magnets that we made at MP for GM. [24:53] These magnets were mined and refined in the state of California [24:58] and made in the state of Texas, 100% American-made. [25:03] And thanks to your leadership, we are scaling up that facility. [25:07] We're going to triple the capacity. [25:08] So we're delivering magnets to GM today. [25:11] Next year, we'll be delivering magnetics to Apple. [25:14] And then from there, we're going to 10X our capacity [25:17] as a result of our public-private partnership together. [25:21] We're going to increase capacity for American industry, [25:24] which, as you mentioned earlier, [25:26] is going to be the American taxpayer has already benefited. [25:30] It'll be great for national security. [25:31] It's really a win-win-win, sir. [25:33] And lastly, that facility is going to be north of a billion dollars of investment [25:37] and a couple thousand jobs. [25:39] So we really are making a lot of progress thanks to your leadership. [25:42] So I appreciate it. [25:43] Thank you very much. [25:43] Well, thank you very much, Jim. [25:44] Great job. [25:45] That's so important, what you're doing. [25:47] Very, very important. [25:48] Thank you, sir. [25:48] I'd be looking at if I were in your world. [25:51] Thank you. [25:52] Thank you. [25:52] Thank you. [25:53] Is Paul Johnson right here? [25:54] Yes, Mr. President, I'm here. [25:56] Mr. President, I'm Paul Johnson, President of College School Mines. [25:59] We are the number-ranked program in the world. [26:02] We're the largest program in the United States. [26:05] And we are very, very excited about the investments that you're making. [26:08] It's pretty hard to go anywhere in the world [26:10] and not run across somebody with a mines connection. [26:12] Secretary Burgum's experts in critical materials, [26:16] over 200 of them, will be moving to the mines campus [26:18] in about six months. [26:19] So we'll be looking forward to welcoming you there [26:21] for that particular ceremony. [26:23] I want to thank you for two things. [26:24] One is thank you for the investment in the mining schools. [26:27] Our expertise has atrophied over time, [26:31] particularly in the processing space. [26:32] And this investment is going to make a big difference. [26:35] Second thing is while majority of, I think, programs have sort of shrunk over time, [26:40] we've actually grown over the last two years. [26:41] And I want to thank you because I attribute that growth to you [26:45] and your administration's highlighting of critical minerals in the press [26:49] and the amazing team that you have working through you, [26:52] through Interior and Energy, other folks. [26:55] It has really, I think, made families feel like this is a field [27:01] that their children can go into. [27:03] And I think that's the start of getting things to do there. [27:06] The other thing I want to thank you for is the investment you just announced [27:08] in mines in our commercialization hub. [27:12] I've always had this dream of having a facility, [27:15] and we have a 50,000 square foot facility, [27:16] that could be dedicated to technology, taking it from ideas to pilot scale [27:23] to commercialization in a very quick period of time. [27:26] And your investment in us in doing that is going to enable us to be able to do that. [27:30] We're up for the challenge. [27:31] We're really excited for it. [27:32] We were doing the happy dance a little earlier when we found out, [27:35] when we heard your announcement. [27:37] And really look forward to doing what we can for the country. [27:40] Thank you. [27:41] Thank you very much. [27:42] Great job. [27:42] Thank you. [27:43] Victoria. [27:45] Mr. President, you have brought mining back to America, [27:48] single-handedly you and your administration. [27:50] And I just wanted to thank you for your enduring support. [27:53] I've run Resolution Copper, [27:55] which is one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world. [27:58] It is in a forgotten part of Arizona called the Copper Corridor. [28:02] And it is, we've already invested $3 billion, so they were ready to go. [28:09] But we started permitting in 2005. [28:11] And if it were not for your administration, [28:13] we finally got it over the line in this year, earlier this year. [28:17] So we have 4,000 people that will work at our facility, 4,000 miners. [28:21] We hope to work closely with the mining schools [28:23] and hire many of the students that will be graduating. [28:26] A billion dollars every year for 60 years invested into the economy. [28:31] And we also have a smelter. [28:33] And I think that's the thing that makes it very unique. [28:35] We can keep everything in the United States [28:37] and a host of critical mineral co-products as well. [28:40] So thank you again on behalf of Rio Tinto, BHP, [28:44] and the hundreds of underground miners [28:46] who are absolutely fabulous that run the mine today. [28:50] Thank you very much. [28:51] We are rolling in drill rigs. [28:52] We are rolling in equipment. [28:54] And we're getting on with it. [28:55] Need too much luck. [28:59] Tom and David, go ahead, please. [29:03] Mr. President, I'm a very, very proud former alumni [29:07] of the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Mines. [29:10] So on behalf of all the faculty here, the students here, [29:13] I am thrilled with all of your announcements today. [29:16] I mean, we've all been frustrated over decades. [29:21] You're making something happen. [29:22] I really appreciate that. [29:23] My first mining job was in Alaska staking the claims [29:26] near the Ambler District. [29:28] And we were in a rush then. [29:29] This was 1975, 1976. [29:32] And it's still not permit. [29:33] Thank you for breaking that logjam. [29:36] I have to present to you a gift to the American people [29:39] on a project that I've been very involved with. [29:42] It's Deep Sea Nodules. [29:43] I'm, like you, I'm a fan of gold. [29:45] And this is a solid gold replica of a Deep Sea Nodule. [29:50] Now, I wish the nodules down the Deep Sea had a lot of gold [29:53] in them that would be more attractive. [29:55] But they do contain 20 critical metals. [29:58] And these are 20 critical metals that are going [30:00] to be needed for the reindustrialization of America. [30:03] They're going to be needed for defense purposes. [30:05] They're going to be needed for all the technologies [30:07] that we are relying on. [30:09] And every single citizen in the United States take for granted. [30:12] That should be part, a key part, of the supply chain. [30:15] And that's what mining can do. [30:16] Thank you very much. [30:17] Thank you. [30:17] Where's the gold? [30:18] Come on, play it over. [30:20] Pass it down. [30:21] I want the gold. [30:22] He just said, let me see what it looks like. [30:24] It should be very heavy. [30:26] It's the heaviest. [30:27] The gold is more fun. [30:28] Let me see. [30:33] It's heavy. [30:34] It's real. [30:35] It's fantastic. [30:37] Oh, I like that too, huh? [30:38] This is so valuable. [30:42] I don't know. [30:42] Do you have a lot of competition, I hope? [30:44] Because people have to go after. [30:46] This is so people have no idea how valuable that it is. [30:49] Thank you very much, fellas. [30:51] It's really beautiful. [30:52] Please, David. [30:53] And as somebody who joined the Trump administration [30:55] from the mining industry, I just want to say that absolutely [30:57] nobody supports our industry more than President Trump. [31:00] So for decades, we felt ignored by Washington, [31:03] and we've seen our industry outsourced to our geopolitical competitors. [31:07] So I'm so grateful to work for you because you get it, [31:09] and you understand that this industry is foundational [31:11] to our economic and national security. [31:13] So thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership on these issues. [31:16] And I know from all of us here in industry [31:17] that we are committed to building the world's best mining sector [31:21] here in the United States [31:21] and reestablishing American mineral dominance. [31:23] Thank you, sir. [31:24] Great. [31:24] Thank you very much, my friend. [31:27] Well, the mining industry has no greater friend [31:30] than President Trump. [31:31] He's obviously everybody knows he's the greatest dealmaker [31:34] in the world, but what he's doing here today [31:36] is bigger than any deal or one deal or two deals. [31:39] This is generational. [31:40] He is focusing on the next generation of miners. [31:43] That is something that has never been done before [31:46] by a president of the United States. [31:48] He is single-handedly today going to change [31:50] the entire next generation of mining in America, [31:53] and he is making America the center of energy dominance for the world. [31:58] So thank you, Mr. President. [31:59] Thank you very much. [32:00] Great. [32:01] Would you like to say anything, fellas? [32:03] Good-looking guys here. [32:05] Mr. President, this is a truly historic occasion [32:09] to bring America back to the leadership of mining, [32:12] which built this building and which built this country. [32:14] We've been sleepwalking through many administrations, [32:19] and this is a revolution that will just electrify [32:23] the millions of people in the United States [32:25] that understand that everything you touch, [32:27] we either mine it or we grew it agriculturally. [32:30] And the people that are the farmers [32:32] really need everything the miners produce to help them farm. [32:35] So this is critical to our national security. [32:39] We're elated with your support, [32:41] and we're going to use Yankee ingenuity [32:44] to prove that we can dominate the supply chain again [32:47] rather than have that used by other nations against us. [32:51] Thank you for that. [32:52] You know, you used the word sleepwalking. [32:54] That's what our country was doing with respect to mining [32:56] and many other things, too, by the way. [32:58] But sleepwalking, it's a great word. [33:00] Thank you. [33:01] Thank you. [33:01] Please. [33:04] Yeah, it's an honor to be here. [33:06] This is so exciting to see this attention. [33:10] You know, I'll just say thank you for your attention to this matter [33:13] as you like to end your posts. [33:15] It's awesome. [33:16] And we're here and we're ready to go. [33:18] So thank you. [33:19] I just want to thank you very much. [33:26] This is an honor for me to be here. [33:29] I love what you do. [33:32] Doug made a terrible mistake before when he said coal. [33:35] I said you have to always proceed it by saying clean, beautiful coal. [33:39] He made a speech once and it was a great speech, [33:42] but he took me very much, you know, at the word. [33:46] He said clean, beautiful coal. [33:47] He mentioned coal about 40 times and he kept saying clean, beautiful coal. [33:50] I said, okay, that's enough. [33:51] That's enough. [33:52] But it is. [33:53] It needs a little public relations help, [33:56] but it doesn't need so much anymore. [33:58] We're producing more coal now than just about ever before. [34:01] It's firing up our great plants and certain types of plant. [34:05] There's, you know, nothing like it. [34:07] And we're out of that business. [34:08] If you would have seen the people suffer, [34:11] and some of you were those people. [34:13] I believe some of you were the people. [34:15] But there's great big coal deposits and you couldn't touch them. [34:20] If you touched them, you were like a bad person. [34:22] They'd put you in jail. [34:23] It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. [34:25] And, you know, China is smart and they're using coal. [34:28] They're building 58 coal plants right now, generating plants, all coal. [34:33] They don't have too much wind. [34:34] You know, they sell us wind turbines, but they don't use too many of them. [34:37] So it's because they're smart. [34:39] They sell them, but they don't use them. [34:41] They have one that's pretty big. [34:43] It doesn't work. [34:44] It just is for purposes of show. [34:46] When they go to look at a turbine, they go and show them, [34:48] and here we are. [34:49] But they never work. [34:51] So it's crazy. [34:52] But clean, beautiful coal is something special. [34:56] It's all very special. [34:57] And we're back in the mining business. [34:58] And I'm very proud of the country. [35:00] I'm very proud of what you do. [35:01] So you do, you really do. [35:03] I said before walking in, these are the people that really built America. [35:08] And you were not treated properly, but you're making up for lost time. [35:12] You're being treated very properly right now. [35:14] So I just want to thank everybody. [35:16] Great honor to be with you. [35:17] Thank you. [35:18] Congratulations. [35:19] Congratulations.