Trump says he does not think critical minerals deal with Ukraine is dead

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump said Monday that he does not believe a critical minerals deal with Ukraine to jointly develop the nation's natural resources is dead amid a bitter feud with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that exploded in public view during an Oval Office sit-down last week.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump suggested that he would comment on the matter during a nationally-televised joint address to Congress Tuesday evening.

"It's a great deal for us, because, you know, Biden, very, very, foolishly, stupidly, frankly, gave $300 billion, $350 billion, more accurately, to a country to fight and to try and do things. And you know what happened? We get nothing," he said, referring to his predecessor, Joe Biden.

"What we're doing is getting that all back, and a lot more than that. And we need, it's very important for this business that we're talking about here with chips and semiconductors and everything else, we need rare earths. And the deal we have is we have the finest rare earths," he added.

He also said Zelenskyy should be more appreciative, because the US "has stuck with them through thick and thin. We've given them much more than Europe, and Europe should have given more than us".

Trump was speaking alongside the head of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company who announced a new $100 billion investment in the US for chip production. The technology requires highly coveted rare earth minerals, some of which are slated to be included in the agreement Trump was to sign with Zelenskyy Friday.

Trump further denied considering a halt to US military assistance for Ukraine, but struck a note of uncertainty about whether he would take such an action.

Asked by a reporter about suspending military assistance for Kyiv, Trump said, "I haven't even talked about that right now," but said, "right now we'll see what happens. A lot of things are happening right now as we speak."

"I could give you an answer and go back to my office, the beautiful Oval Office. I could go back into the Oval Office and find out that the answer is obsolete," he said.

Trump continued to lambast comments Zelenskyy made during an interview with The Associated Press in which the Ukrainian leader suggested that an end to Russia's war against his country remains "very, very far away."

Trump said Zelenskyy "better not be right about that. That's all I'm saying."

"I want to see it end fast. I don't want to see this go on for years and years now," the American president said. "President Zelenskyy supposedly made a statement today in AP, I'm not a big fan of AP, so maybe it was an incorrect statement, but he said he thinks the war is going to go on for a long time, and he better not be right about that."

Trump earlier Friday warned Zelenskyy that continued US support for his country may not last "much longer" unless the Ukrainian president changes his tune on bringing a rapid end to Russia's war.

The leaders engaged in a fiery Oval Office fracas on Friday in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance repeatedly berated Zelenskyy, alleging he is ungrateful for years of American military and economic aid for his war-ravaged nation.

Trump has sought to rapidly end the war, a goal the self-proclaimed deal-maker said on the campaign trail that he could accomplish in as little as one day. He has voiced varying degrees of concern for the manner in which that goal is accomplished, acknowledging during the unprecedented Oval Office blowup that Ukraine would have to make "concessions" to Russia, berating Zelenskyy with threats that he is "gambling with World War III."

Tensions escalated after Zelenskyy raised doubts over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted in any negotiations aimed at end the war, citing past agreements that the Russian leader repeatedly broke in the years leading up to the full-scale war he launched on his eastern European neighbor.

Trump had already ruled out Ukraine's membership in NATO, the transatlantic defensive alliance which requires unanimous support for any new member to be admitted, and falsely accused Ukraine of starting Russia's war.

Following the fracas, Zelenskyy abruptly departed the White House, leaving the critical minerals deal unsigned, and cancelling a planned joint press conference with Trump.