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Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to America, who trash talked Trump in the past found himself getting some payback in the Oval Office duding the US/Australia meeting. Not a great idea to get into fights with Trump, Chuckle.

Donald Trump's presidential victory means some U.S. allies may have to reckon with prior scathing remarks as their countries prepare to build diplomatic ties with a president-elect whose return they may not have anticipated. “The most destructive president in history,” Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd said of Trump in 2020, who “drags America and democracy through the mud.” “A woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” and a “profound threat to the international order,” David Lammy, the U.K.'s current foreign secretary, said in 2018. “A political pyromaniac who must be put before a criminal court,” Jean Asselborn, then-foreign minister for Luxembourg, said...

Australia’s ambassador to the US has deleted comments he had previously made online about Donald Trump, criticising him as “destructive” and a “traitor to the West”. Kevin Rudd, a former prime minister, said his remarks did not reflect the view of the government and he was “looking forward” to working with the president-elect. Dr Rudd, who scrubbed his social media days before Mr Trump’s election victory, wanted to “eliminate the possibility of such comments being misconstrued,” his office said. The ambassador became the latest in a list of high-profile figures to distance themselves from disparaging remarks made about Mr Trump...

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has asked the government to nominate him for the United Nations top job, the foreign minister said on Monday. Julie Bishop said Rudd wanted the government’s endorsement to succeed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose second five-year term ends Dec. 31. That decision would be made by Australia’s next cabinet, which will be named Monday following July 2 elections. …

President Trump tore into a foreign ambassador on Monday who badmouthed him in the past after signing a multibillion-dollar, rare-earth and critical minerals deal with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “Did an ambassador say something bad about me?” Trump asked Albanese when a journalist mentioned Australian Ambassador Kevin Rudd’s prior remarks vilifying the 45th and 47th president. “Where is he? Is he still working for you?” Albanese informed Trump that Rudd, a former prime minister and Australia’s top diplomat in Washington since 2023, was sitting across the table, prompting Trump to ask, “You said bad? “Before I took this...

Why Washington Must Accelerate the U.A.E. Chip PartnershipThe United States and China are locked in a technology cold war. Beijing’s latest move—restricting exports of rare earth minerals critical to advanced manufacturing of everything from semiconductors to defense systems—shows that China is willing to weaponize every advantage it has. But the trade war is only part of the story. China’s quest to become a hegemonic power runs through the Gulf, where it seeks to establish a military presence to secure energy and shipping routes vital to its economy. For years, Beijing has courted the region’s energy and capital-rich states through the...

The U.S. doesn’t produce the minerals and metals needed for renewable energy, microchips or military technology. Authorities want to change that as quickly as possible.Major oil companies are drilling in East Texas again, but not for oil. This time, they're after lithium for batteries and other rare elements.Chevron and Halliburton announced East Texas projects this summer. Exxon has acreage across the border in Arkansas. Smackover Lithium, a joint venture of a Norwegian oil giant and a Canadian miner, announced in late September the discovery of the most lithium-rich fluids ever reported in North America, measured deep beneath its Texas claims...

President Trump and President Xi Jinping are locked in a fresh trade war standoff—and Beijing is betting the U.S. stock market will blink first. China’s escalating economic retaliation is timed with precision, and the message is clear: Xi believes Trump won’t risk another market meltdown. That assumption could shape every policy move over the next few weeks and shift investor sentiment worldwide. From rare-earth sanctions to new export controls and shipping-related penalties, China is tightening the screws just as President Trump threatens 100% tariffs on Chinese goods. Meanwhile, both countries prepare for a high-stakes summit later this month in South...

China has just played its rare-earth card — and the shock waves reach far beyond trade. On October 9, Beijing imposed sweeping new export controls on a broad array of rare-earth metals and high-tech components. These obscure elements — neodymium, dysprosium, samarium, holmium, erbium, and others — are the hidden arteries of modern power. They magnetize motors that steer drones and electric vehicles, harden the guidance systems of missiles, and enable the high-temperature performance of GPUs — the silicon engines that drive artificial intelligence. Whoever controls rare earths holds a potential chokehold on the digital and military age. [SNIP] Weaponized...

On Friday, President Trump made two posts on Truth Social in response to China’s announcement of stringent export controls on rare earth elements (REE) and related processing equipment. In the first post, he appeared to threaten to cancel his meeting with Xi at the upcoming APEC summit in South Korea. More importantly, in his second post, he announced an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports in response to Beijing’s economic coercion, effective November 1 or earlier. If implemented, this would bring the total tariff rate for China to 130%.pic.twitter.com/5TcdNuNWv2— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 10, 2025pic.twitter.com/TtnPx2l2er— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47)...

In a groundbreaking development, the United States has initiated the opening of a new rare earths mine for the first time in over seven decades. This historic project, situated in Wyoming, has the potential to transform the U.S. economy and bolster its national defense. The discovery was documented in a recent economic viability study published by an independent source, which estimates that the Brook Mine holds up to 1.7 million tons of rare earths and critical minerals, with a vast untapped area still to be explored. The mine is poised to significantly reduce America’s reliance on foreign sources of these...

The Trump administration is reportedly weighing two proposals to remove China from critical U.S. supply chains. One option involves negotiating a rare earth mineral trade deal directly with the Myanmar junta. The other, and potentially more strategic, approach is to bypass the junta entirely and engage with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), a powerful ethnic armed group that controls resource-rich territory and has been fighting the junta since it nullified Myanmar’s democratic election and seized power in 2021. Engaging with the junta risks legitimizing a brutal regime responsible for widespread atrocities, including airstrikes and ground assaults on civilians, hospitals, schools,...

30 years of war settled. America gets rare earths extraction deal out of it. Congo and Rwanda kiss and make up. Trump gets credit. Biden blew the conflict off. President Donald Trump on Friday welcomed representatives from Rwanda and the Congo to the White House after he announced the U.S. secured a "wonderful" treaty between the two countries. Trump said he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were able to broker a deal for "one of the worst wars anyone’s ever seen," describing the treaty as a "tremendous breakthrough," while Rubio called it "an important moment" after 30 years of...

As U.S. tariffs tighten the screws on China’s export machine, Beijing is striking back with strategic precision. Export restrictions on rare earths are now Beijing’s latest move to break down European trade barriers and push back against escalating pressure from Washington.In today’s global trade standoff, the gloves are off. The U.S. is wielding its market clout -- 25% of global consumption originates from the American domestic market. Anyone in the export business must deal with the United States. China, meanwhile, holds an current monopoly on rare earths -- and is making it clear it will not hesitate to weaponize that...

U.S. intelligence chiefs ordered agencies to tighten surveillance on Greenland, the first tangible step toward President Donald Trump’s oft-stated goal of bringing the Arctic island under American control, sources leaked to The Wall Street Journal. The directive instructed the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Administration (NSA) and the CIA to identify Greenlandic and Danish figures who might back U.S. objectives and to gauge public sentiment toward American resource extraction, the outlet reported Tuesday. Its emergence triggered immediate pushback from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who accused unnamed officials of leaking in order to thwart the administration. “The Wall...

Rare earth elements are crucial to our modern existence, as well as our advanced defense systems. China, America’s primary supplier of these metals, has restricted exports of rare earths into the U.S. in retaliation for the president’s tariffs on Chinese exports into the country. There’s no reason to panic, though. There’s a way to work around the problem, and it doesn’t require a minerals deal with Ukraine. Rare earth elements are needed to make our cellphones, computer hard drives, flat-screen monitors and televisions, as well as life-saving medical equipment. They are in fact “indispensable metals in electronics manufacturing.” Without them,...

As China imposes export controls on rare earth elements, the U.S. would be unable to fill a potential shortfall, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies — and this could threaten Washington’s military capabilities. Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating tariffs on China, Beijing earlier this month imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and magnets used in defense, energy and automotive technologies. The new restrictions — which encompass the medium and heavy rare earth elements samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium — will require Chinese companies to secure special licenses to export the resources....

China has halted exports of seven critical rare earth elements to the United States, a move that threatens to disrupt supply chains across key American industries, including automotive, semiconductor, and aerospace sectors. China’s Ministry of Commerce recently added seven rare earth elements—including dysprosium, terbium, and lutetium—to its restricted export list. These elements are essential for manufacturing high-performance magnets used in electric vehicles, advanced weaponry, and consumer electronics. NY Times reported:

...Is the U.S. about to come into a windfall? We spoke to Laura Lewis, a university distinguished professor of chemical and mechanical engineering at Northeastern, who studies critical minerals and their applications. Her comments have been edited for brevity and clarity... ...What about rare earths? Does Ukraine have them? The evidence for Ukraine having rare earths at all is derived from reports that are at least 50 years old that were conducted by Russia. There really is no significant evidence that Ukraine has them. If they do, and they say that they're going to now develop this resource, it would...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday, part of a push to appeal to Donald Trump's penchant for a deal. The U.S. president, whose administration is pressing for a rapid end to Ukraine's war with Russia, said on Monday he wanted Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort. "If we are talking about a deal, then let's do a deal, we are only for it," Zelenskiy said, emphasising Ukraine's...