The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the largest provider of some of the world’s most sought-after critical minerals, is pitching President Donald Trump on a deal that would connect wealth from the nation’s raw materials to broader stability in the region — following in the footsteps of a similar pact taking shape around Ukraine.
“President Tshisekedi invites the USA, whose companies source strategic raw materials from Rwanda, materials that are looted from the DRC and smuggled to Rwanda while our populations are massacred, to purchase them directly from us the rightful owners,” Tina Salama, a spokesperson for Tshisekedi, wrote on X.
Salama was responding to a post referencing a Feb. 22 New York Times article, which stated that Tshisekedi was offering the U.S. and Europe a stake in his country’s vast mineral wealth, which is currently dominated by China. The newspaper stated that it was Tshisekedi’s first interview since an armed group backed by Rwanda had seized swaths of DRC territory.
The article stated that Tshisekedi “has pinned his hopes on Western pressure against Rwanda, calculating that major investments in Congo — including a possible minerals deal — would bring his country much more security and stability.”
