Trump Jr. and Tanbreez: Securing the Rare Earth Supply Chain

The involvement of Donald Trump Jr. in the Tanbreez rare earth project represents a significant escalation in the geopolitical race to secure critical minerals. As a board member of Critical Metals Corp, the entity that now controls the Tanbreez asset in Greenland, Trump Jr. provides a direct link between private sector resource development and high-level political strategy. This development comes at a time when the United States is aggressively seeking to decouple its defense and technology supply chains from Chinese dominance, which has long been viewed as a primary strategic vulnerability.

China currently maintains a near-monopoly on the global rare earth market, controlling approximately 60% of mining and over 90% of the processing and refining capacity. These elements—including neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium—are indispensable for modern defense systems. A single F-35 Lightning II fighter jet requires nearly 920 pounds of rare earth materials, while a Virginia-class submarine consumes over 9,000 pounds. The vulnerability of this supply chain was highlighted in late 2023 and 2024 when Beijing imposed export restrictions on gallium, germanium, and graphite, signaling its willingness to use mineral dominance as a geopolitical lever in trade and security disputes.

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China currently maintains a near-monopoly on the global rare earth market, controlling approximately 60% of mining and over 90% of the processing and refining capacity.

The Tanbreez project in Southern Greenland is uniquely positioned to break this deadlock. It is one of the largest multi-element deposits in the world, containing significant quantities of rare earths, zirconium, niobium, and tantalum. Crucially, the Tanbreez deposit is characterized by its low thorium content. In many other rare earth mines, high levels of radioactive thorium make processing environmentally hazardous and technically complex. The cleaner nature of the Tanbreez ore could significantly lower the barrier to establishing a Western-based processing facility, which has historically been the most difficult part of the supply chain to replicate outside of China.

Greenland itself has become a focal point of Arctic geopolitics. The island’s vast, untapped mineral wealth has drawn intense interest from both Washington and Beijing. The U.S. government’s interest in Greenland is not new—ranging from the establishment of Thule Air Base (now Pituffik Space Base) to the 2019 proposal by the Trump administration to purchase the territory from Denmark. By positioning a high-profile American figure like Trump Jr. within the corporate structure of the project’s owner, the U.S. is signaling that it views Tanbreez not just as a commercial venture, but as a strategic national asset that requires political protection and high-level advocacy.