Look under almost every element of President Trump's second-term foreign policy — from the trade war with China, to peace in Ukraine, to annexing Greenland — and you'll find critical minerals.
Why it matters: China has the U.S. in a bind when it comes to supplies of rare earths and other scarce minerals, and President Xi Jinping has proved he's willing to squeeze. That's why Trump was so intent on signing a one-year trade truce with Beijing, and why he's scouring the world for alternative sources.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) planned to assassinate Israel's ambassador to Mexico, Einat Kranz-Neiger, but the plot was foiled last summer by Mexican security services, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
Why it matters: U.S. officials claim this is further evidence that Iran has an extensive overseas networkplotting against American and Israeli targets, including in Latin America.
Seven people at Joint Base Andrews fell ill after a "suspicious package" containing "negative sentiments" towards President Trump and his actions was sent to the Maryland military facility, the U.S. military said Friday.
The latest: "There were no specific threats towards the President or other government officials" in the package that was sent Thursday, but the statement from the 316th Wing of the U.S. Air Force at the base said "emergency responders evacuated the building and connecting building and established a cordon around the area" as a precaution.
President Trump's views on climate change were denounced by several Latin American leaders in Belém, Brazil, on Thursday at the COP30 UN summit.
The big picture: Without naming Trump, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said "extremist forces that fabricate fake news and are condemning future generations to life on a planet altered forever by global warming." Chile and Colombia's leaders both specifically singled out the U.S. president in their COP30 speeches.
A Trump administration official told Axios that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is not under federal investigation, hours after the New York Times reported that the Justice Department was probing one of her foreign trips paid by Qatar.
Why it matters: Bowser is weighing a fourth term bid while navigating an unpredictable relationship with President Trump.
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is expected to announce during a meeting with President Trump on Thursday that his country will join the Abraham Accords, U.S. officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: WhileKazakhstan and Israel have had full diplomatic relations for more than 30 years, the move is designed to reinvigorate the Abraham Accords as the U.S.-led framework for cooperation between Israel and the Arab and Muslim world, a senior U.S. official said.
