America lays its cards — and contracts — loudly on the table

Welcome to America’s new global gold rush. Now diplomacy comes with a price tag, and peace negotiations sound suspiciously like business mergers. Under Trump Doctrine 2.0, Uncle Sam has traded his diplomatic tuxedo for mining gear, transforming war zones into extraction sites and allies into alloys. This bold reinvention of American realpolitik openly lays out the price tag of security guarantees — typically payable in cobalt, lithium, and gold. Trump’s security deals aren’t just groundbreaking — they’re literally breaking ground.

Consider Ukraine, the geopolitical piñata stuck between Russia and NATO. After years of turmoil, Kyiv received a strikingly transactional offer: American military support in exchange for exclusive access to Ukrainian lithium, titanium, and rare earths — the shiny stuff that goes into everything from your latest iPhone obsession to your Tesla’s battery. Zelensky wanted NATO protection; instead, he got a corporate pitch from Uncle Sam, who’s apparently moved past giving peace a chance to giving peace a price. America’s commitment now depends less on shared values and more on shared minerals. When security assurances come neatly packaged with economic demands, a nation’s survival directly correlates with its ability to efficiently supply America’s strategic mineral needs.

Then there’s the Democratic Republic of Congo, known less for democratic governance and more for its spectacularly undemocratic cobalt and lithium reserves. Rich in cobalt and lithium — critical to America’s tech and automotive industries — the country remains entangled in persistent instability, particularly in its resource-rich eastern regions, where insurgent groups have caused havoc for decades. Many of these armed groups have reportedly received backing from neighboring Rwanda, further complicating the already volatile dynamics.

The Trump administration’s proposed deal is straightforward yet controversial: military support for the Congolese government to combat these insurgencies, paired with exclusive American mining rights. Diplomacy is now a game of Monopoly: Pass Go, collect cobalt.

In Trump’s world, diplomacy isn’t about making friends; it’s about making deals. Trump’s selective engagement policy narrows American involvement primarily to economically advantageous scenarios, reshaping global alliances around clear business outcomes rather than historical bonds. Trump’s new foreign policy isn’t just transactional — it’s transactionally transformational.

Resource nationalism further amplifies this strategic pivot. Trump’s foreign policy explicitly prioritizes securing control over natural resources crucial to American economic security. This shift is part of a broader agenda aimed at ensuring that American corporations remain globally dominant, especially in emerging technologies and green energy industries, reducing strategic dependency on China and Russia.

Central to this doctrine is a clear challenge to China and Russia, who have long dominated the global resource market. Both Beijing and Moscow have been employing transactional diplomacy, quietly securing strategic minerals worldwide through investment, proxy conflicts, and economic influence, notably in Africa and Asia. Where Russia schemes in shadows and China strategizes in silence, America lays its cards — and contracts — loudly on the table. By openly mirroring their strategies — minus the subtlety — Trump has made resource-rich territories the frontlines of the new geopolitical rivalry.

Adding another layer, Trump’s strategy of competitive multilateralism reshapes US diplomatic interactions by actively encouraging competition among allies and partners for American favor. Rather than building coalitions, Trump promotes rivalry, enabling the US to increase its negotiating leverage and secure more favorable terms, shifting global dynamics toward intensified competition for American approval and economic partnership.

Trump’s doctrine isn’t just setting the stage; it’s shifting the tectonic plates of global geopolitics. America isn’t merely drilling down on security — it’s drilling down into geopolitical fault lines, potentially fueling resource conflicts in its quest for stability.

Future locales where the Trump Doctrine will likely be applied include:

Sudan:

Rich in gold and instability, Sudan could find itself bartering its abundant resources in exchange for American boots on the ground. Trump’s diplomacy, it would seem, isn’t just reshaping foreign policy — it’s redefining what it means to “strike gold.”

Afghanistan (Revolving Door Edition):

Despite a recent messy divorce from Kabul, America might find lithium reserves too tempting to ignore. Could minerals bring the US back to the land of endless conflict?

The Sahel Region:

Coup-prone nations like Niger, sitting atop valuable uranium deposits, might soon see US military advisors landing in exchange for exclusive mining rights. Call it stability, American-style.

Venezuela:

With its oil reserves and chaotic governance, Venezuela seems tailor-made for a resource-for-democracy deal. Expect diplomacy served alongside lucrative mineral extraction.

Zimbabwe:

Sitting atop platinum, lithium, and gold riches — and mired in economic turmoil — Zimbabwe could soon catch America’s eye. Promises of stability will come gift-wrapped with mining contracts and a hefty invoice.

Mozambique:

Insurgency and mineral wealth make Mozambique a dark-horse candidate for the Trump Doctrine. Stability might soon mean US presence and mining contracts.

What’s truly fascinating about this strategic shift is how Trump’s business-minded approach is reshaping not just the American presidency but also the global geopolitical landscape. By openly branding resource-driven diplomacy and merging business logic with statecraft, the administration is redefining traditional international relations — placing economic gain and national interests at the forefront of global diplomacy.

While trading security for resources isn’t entirely novel — just think Saudi oil in the mid-20th century — the Trump administration is openly branding it, tweeting about it, and framing it as America First. Trump’s foreign policy isn’t just reshaping the geopolitical map — it’s drilling straight through it.

Meanwhile, the world is now forced to grapple with uncomfortable realities: Are we genuinely stabilizing global conflicts through resource deals, or simply fueling resource-driven conflicts in our pursuit of stability? Are American corporations passengers on the Trump Doctrine express, or are they the ones laying down the tracks? Is Trump’s doctrine reestablishing American dominance on the global chessboard, or is he merely flipping it over, pocketing the pieces, and turning Uncle Sam into the planet’s most heavily-armed mining conglomerate? Can America’s transactional diplomacy sidestep the dangerous traps of colonial exploitation, Cold War proxy conflicts, and economic imperialism — or is history preparing yet another brutal lesson in geopolitical déjà vu?

Ultimately, history will judge whether this audacious game of resource roulette turns into a masterstroke of geopolitical brilliance or whether America has merely drilled itself into morally and ethically unstable ground.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1054)