US president Donald Trump has faced criticism for turning “the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom“. It wasn’t really surprising, because Trump was always going to repay Tesla CEO Elon Musk in some way for his electoral support in 2024. But as the media focuses on Trump essentially becoming a Tesla salesman, what we really need to prepare for is his next step of subservience to the world’s richest man.
Donald Trump started his second presidential term with a battle against both foes and allies. He threatened neighbours Mexico and Canada with tariffs. He also targeted China, the EU, and others, in what some described as a pushy negotiating strategy. At the same time, he has been treating Greenland as a potential US acquisition.
There will doubtless be some other reasons for Trump’s behaviour. But it seems completely sensible to suggest a lot of it is about pleasing Musk, who just happens to be the most powerful person with a strong vested interest in the electric vehicle (EV) industry.
Donald Trump: it’s all about the money (and the natural resources that help make it)
So what do you need to make EVs?
- Well, steel and aluminium to begin with, whose US interests Trump claims to be protecting by placing tariffs on their importation from abroad. These metals mostly come to the US from Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and South Korea.
- Then, for the EV batteries, lithium is essential. You may remember when Musk responded to US support for a right-wing coup in lithium-rich Bolivia in 2019 by saying “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”
- Cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite are also important for EV batteries.
- Rare earth elements, meanwhile, are still in use for electric motors and power electronics, though there are efforts to reduce reliance on them because China dominates their production. Trump’s positioning on Ukraine and Russia, focusing on rare earth minerals, is unlikely to be a coincidence.
On the point of China, meanwhile, Donald Trump is very much a supporter of intensifying the Cold War against the economic superpower, which happens to be a leader in EV production and sales (and thus a key competitor for Musk).
Lithium targets include Bolivia and Chile
Lithium matters for phones and laptops as well as EVs, so other pro-Donald Trump tech billionaires care about it too. Demand for the resource has skyrocketed, and if more and more people have EVs that will only intensify. And unfortunately, its extraction leads to “extreme water shortages”, severely affecting farmers, while harming soil and polluting both air and water.
Currently, the “Lithium Triangle” of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile holds over 75% of the global lithium supply. Argentina isn’t a problem for Trump and Musk. Because its extremist leader Javier Milei aligns perfectly with their hyper-corporate agenda. But Chile and Bolivia still have governments that want state control of the lithium industry. Mexico is a similar story, though it has less.
Trump has already threatened Chile with devastating tariffs on its massively important copper industry to put pressure on its struggling centre-left government. Some suspect the right could return to power in this year’s elections there, which would be a big boost for Trump and Musk.
While Bolivia has a massive amount of lithium, it is still in the process of developing its production. Bolivia’s organised social movements successfully overturned the US-backed right-wing coup of 2019, but the turbulence fostered some division in the dominant left-wing movement. This split could potentially allow the right into government by the back door in 2025’s elections.
Australia, meanwhile, is currently the biggest producer of lithium, and hasn’t escaped Donald Trump’s bullying. China also has a significant share of lithium production.
Cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite targets
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is rich in natural resources, and is “currently the world’s largest supplier of cobalt“. But that hasn’t helped its people escape from a brutal legacy of Western imperial plunder.
In the late 1800s, Belgian imperialism killed millions of people in what is now the DRC. As its people were becoming independent from Belgium, the US helped to assassinate their first prime minister in 1961. The West then backed a brutal anti-communist dictator for over three decades. Since his fall, “low-level violent conflict” has plagued the country, killing over six million people and displacing millions more. And minerals are a central part of the ongoing bloodshed.
There are widespread reports of exploitation of miners (including children) in the DRC, for example, with links to Musk’s Tesla. And Trump is seeking to get as much as possible from the war-torn DRC.
The leaders in nickel production are Indonesia, the Philippines, Russia, and the French Pacific islands of New Caledonia. Australia, Brazil, China, and Canada also have significant reserves. Regarding manganese, South Africa and Gabon are key producers (and we know how Trump and pals have been treating South Africa recently). In relation to graphite, meanwhile, China dominates.
Greenland reportedly has cobalt, lithium, nickel and graphite, among other resources. And its new right-wing government is likely to be open to negotiating a favourable deal for Donald Trump.
Donald Trump: getting countries to submit, by whatever means necessary
US imperialism has long terrorised the world, but has often lied about why, trying to dress its self-interested pursuits as a battle for ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom’. Donald Trump simply lays out the real reason for everyone to see. It’s about wealthy US-based elites increasing their sphere of control and power. And to do that, Trump’s administration will expect the countries above (and others) to fall in line, giving favourable conditions to US corporate interests, or facing the consequences.
Those consequences could be tariffs, they could be military hostility, or they could be covert interference in elections. But when you hear a mention of the countries above in the coming months and years, you’ll have a good idea about why.
Featured image via the Canary
