Shock and Ore: The White House’s Aggressive Mineral Strategy
The Department of Commerce secures a 10% stake in the Oklahoma miner to fuel a "mine-to-magnet" supply chain and counter Beijing’s critical mineral dominance.
If you thought the federal government’s investment portfolio was limited to Treasury bonds and bureaucratic overhead, think again. The White House is trading policy papers for pickaxes, officially taking a minority stake in USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ: USAR) to the tune of $1.6 billion. It is the latest signal that Washington is done asking nicely for critical minerals and is now simply paying to dig them up itself.
The deal, announced early Monday morning, sees the Department of Commerce effectively becoming a venture capitalist in the critical minerals sector. The package includes a $277 million federal grant and a massive $1.3 billion senior secured loan under the Commerce Department’s CHIPS program. In exchange for this influx of capital, the government isn't just getting a thank-you note; they are taking equity. The Commerce Department will receive 16.1 million shares of common stock, roughly a 10 percent stake, along with warrants to purchase an additional 17.6 million shares.
Wall Street noticed immediately. Shares of the Stillwater, Oklahoma-based company surged more than 13 percent in pre-market trading, proving that nothing boosts investor confidence quite like having the United States government as a partner.

