A flurry of federal investments in mining and mineral supply chains could help the electric vehicle industry that famously isn't President Trump's jam.

Why it matters: The White House emphasized the support as a way to diversify supply chains critical to defense, aerospace and other sectors.

• But some of the companies provide materials critical for batteries and other clean energy equipment that China now dominates.

The big picture: The push to build up domestic production of critical minerals and raw materials tackles "one of the major challenges" facing U.S. automakers as they compete globally on EVs, said Andrew Miller, CEO of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

🗞️ Driving the news: More than $2 billion of planned backing unveiled Friday includes...

• A $1.4 billion Pentagon investment in Sila Nanotechnologies, which domestically makes battery components.
• $150 million via the Pentagon for Niron Magnetics, a firm commercializing magnets with EV and energy uses — including wind — that don't rely on rare earth elements.
• The U.S. Export-Import Bank is investing $25 million in Westwater Resources to develop an Alabama deposit of graphite, a key battery material.

Yes, but: The White House has reversed Biden-era federal EV support.

• The 2025 GOP budget law ended major consumer purchase subsidies.
• The Environmental Protection Agency is scuttling vehicle CO2 standards that benefit EVs.

🏀 State of play: Shifting global supply chains is a very long-term undertaking.

• But analysts called the new investments a piece of the mineral security puzzle.
• These are just the latest in a suite of Trump administration investments aimed at bolstering mining and mineral supply chains in the U.S. and among allies.

🔍 What we're watching: The Atlantic Council's Alexis Harmon expects most deals to come with purchase rights or "contractual priority" for the Pentagon.

• But she still sees significant "spillover" effects for clean energy supply chains.
• And, she said via email, the $180 million in new federal investments in mineral-related workforce and education will help clean energy industries.

The bottom line: "This type of investment could strengthen parts of the EV-battery supply chain and generate wider clean-energy benefits," said Tom Moerenhout, who heads the critical minerals initiative at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy.

• "But what we really need is a demand-side policy that incentivizes the largest chunk of minerals and battery components demand, i.e. EVs," he said via email, adding that ignoring that side of the equation is "nonsensical."

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is among the early critics of Amazon's newly revealed plan for a Texas data center complex powered by up to 7.65 gigawatts of new natural gas-fired power.

Why it matters: The senator is a potential White House candidate, and his comments to Axios signal how the project could become a flashpoint in wider battles over data centers and what's fueling them.

Driving the news: "Hyperscalers should be procuring new clean energy and helping build out the grid for the benefit of everyone, not polluting our air only for their own financial gain," Van Hollen said in a statement.

• Several environmental groups are attacking the plan, too.

Catch up quick: Amazon is planning a data center campus in Pecos County, Texas, at the site where Pacifico Energy is developing the GW Ranch power project.

• The power plant's emissions would be the country's largest single CO2 source if it ran at maximum levels, per Michael Thomas of the market intelligence platform Cleanview, who broke news of the plan on Friday.
• Amazon told Axios that it would purchase the power and confirmed the overall plan.

The big picture: "Amazon believes in paying the full costs of powering our operations," and the plan "does just that," a spokesperson told Axios.

• What's starting as on-site generation — which could connect to the grid in the future — won't raise electricity costs for Texas families, the spokesperson said.
• Amazon is exploring the use of solar and batteries at the site, and will use water that's not suitable for drinking or irrigation, it said.

Amazon's statement also touted the company's role in almost 10 gigawatts of clean energy projects, enough to power around 8 million homes, and said it remains committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Yes, but: Van Hollen — who has been tracking Pacifico Energy's plan — said "working families and our environment cannot afford to bear the brunt of Big Tech's race to the bottom."

• He called it "another example of why we need legal guardrails" on data center development, and touted his bill that would create new federal rules.

What we're watching: He probably won't be the last high-profile political figure to weigh in.

A new oil market term just dropped: the "Beijing Swing." It's how analyst Rory Johnston describes China's stunning decline in oil imports during the Iran war.

Why it matters: It's the biggest reason prices didn't soar even higher, and why the global crisis — while still a crisis! — wasn't as bad as initially feared when the Strait of Hormuz shut.

• Whether it continues will affect crude oil prices going forward, which means China's behavior will sway U.S. gasoline prices.

State of play: We've already been reporting on it, but new analyses add context about the world's biggest oil buyer.

• Through June, China cut seaborne crude imports by a "staggering" 5.4 million barrels per day compared to pre-war levels, Johnston writes.
• That's a lot in a global oil market of around 105 million bpd.
• The contraction was larger than China's COVID-based reductions in 2020 and 2022, and larger than the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

The big picture: He compares China's pullback to another market-swaying event.

• It's roughly the scale of the entire OPEC+ production restrictions in 2023-2024, when the group was looking to prop up prices, but China's pivot unfolded in a much more compressed timeframe.

The intrigue: The first entry in his "Beijing Swing" series notes that specifics around China's use of its huge crude stockpiles and refining changes remain mysterious — something he plans to solve in subsequent analysis.

• One question is how China has reduced refinery operations so much — though how much is itself unclear — without "materially harming" its economy.

What's next: China's imports have started rising again, but whether it's a durable rebound, or simply a temporary bounce, is what analysts are watching.

The bottom line: "When and at what pace China resumes buying is a variable that will shape the trajectory of oil prices," Jim Burkhard, a top analyst with S&P Global Energy, said in a note.

🛻 Scoop: Slate Auto, the Jeff Bezos-backed developer of affordable electric pickup trucks, is raising around $500 million in Series D funding. Go deeper

🛢️ Scoop: Shell Ventures has agreed to sell stakes in around 10 portfolio companies to Spanish asset manager Alantra. Go deeper

🔎 Infrastructure AI startup Buzz Solutions has raised a $20 million Series A to scale and develop its visual inspection product for utilities, Axios Pro was first to report. Go deeper

⚛️ Valar Atomics closed a $1 billion Series B round at a $6 billion post-money valuation led by Sequoia Capital to build its nuclear reactors. Go deeper

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"Our goal is to make sure people choose not to cross the industry ... I think this is by far our biggest step forward in terms of accomplishing our goal, and it definitively sends a signal that our deterrence is real, and that we will get involved."

That's from a wider E&E News piece about the pro-solar group's plans to get involved in other primaries and general elections.