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President Donald Trump is expected to attend a roundtable with top mining executives on Friday, hosted by the State Department, as the administration accelerates efforts to expand domestic and allied supplies of critical minerals and reduce reliance on Chinese-dominated supply chains. People familiar with the planning said the event will feature the unveiling of multiple deals and memoranda of understanding, designed to demonstrate momentum in minerals development and processing.
Among those invited are industry heavyweights Rio Tinto, BHP and Freeport-McMoRan, alongside MP Materials, USA Rare Earth, Energy Fuels, US Antimony, Sunrise Energy Metals and The Metals Company. Some companies are still determining whether to send senior executives in person. Trump will be joined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and other officials from the National Energy Dominance Council.
The summit has been in preparation for weeks, with final details being pulled together rapidly in recent days. Multiple federal agencies have been tapped to participate. Ahead of the meeting, White House officials asked departments to compile recently closed deals and MOUs that would illustrate forward motion on the president’s critical minerals agenda.
On the same day, the Department of Energy is set to host a separate event focused on workforce development. Representatives from all 14 accredited U.S. mining schools are expected to attend, aiming to raise awareness of mining as a career path and encourage more students to enter the field. China, with its extensive network of mining schools, has leveraged that talent pipeline to become the world’s largest minerals producer.
The flurry of activity is backed by a multi-billion-dollar industrial policy launched more than a year ago, committing roughly $10 billion to building a complete mine-to-magnet supply chain and securing reliable domestic access to rare earths and other critical products. That push shifted into overdrive last year after China rattled global markets by imposing export controls on rare earth minerals and permanent magnets, which are essential to automobiles, wind turbines and defense applications.
Friday’s gathering continues a pattern for Trump, who has regularly summoned top executives from sectors such as technology and energy to showcase his economic priorities. Ashley Burke, a spokesperson for the National Mining Association, said the industry looks forward to working with the administration to responsibly develop domestic resources, secure supply chains and build the mining workforce of the future. The White House, Energy Department and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
