The Art of the Deal: Using Presidential Influence and American Soldiers in Africa to Make Donald Trump, Jr., a Trillionaire

 By: Donald V. Watkins

Copyrighted and Published on December 5, 2025

Donald Trump, Jr. (center), with 1789 Capital partners Christopher Buskirk (left) and Omeed Malik (right).

An Editorial Opinion 

Within days after his father won the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump Jr. joined Palm Beach, Florida-based venture capital firm 1789 Capital as an equity partner.  

In August 2025, 1789 Capital invested in Vulcan Elements, a startup manufacturer of rare earth magnets located in Durham, North Carolina.  Vulcan Elements, which had 30 employees, raised the remaining portion of its $65 million in startup capital from investors Altimeter Capital and One Investment Management.

Three months later, Vulcan Elements received a $620 million loan from the U.S. Department of Defense to increase the supply of magnets for industries. This was the largest loan awarded by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital.   

Vulcan Elements also landed more than $10 million in Defense Department contracts across every branch of the U.S. military on a non-bid basis.

U.S. Imperialism and Neo-Colonialism in the DRC and Rwanda

On December 4, 2025, President Donald Trump announced a “Strategic Partnership Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo” that gives Vulcan Elements (via its business alliance mining partner in Africa) direct, prioritized, U.S. military-protected, mining access to the DRC’s $24 trillion in untapped rare earth mineral deposits.

Rwanda signed two agreements: (a) The Regional Economic Integration Framework (REIF) between Rwanda and the DRC, and (b) The Framework Between the U.S. and Rwanda for Shared Economic Prosperity.

The package of agreements opens DRC and Rwanda up for full commercial exploitation by U.S. companies under U.S. military protection on a scale not seen since the end of European colonization of Africa.  In exchange for about $2 billion in U.S. aid for each country and U.S. security assurances to prevent violence in the rare earth minerals mining areas, Donald Trump,Jr., Vulcan Elements, and their mining partners will extract up to $24 trillion in rare earth mineral from the DRC, alone.

The agreements contain customized language that favors a Donald Trump, Jr.-affiliated mining company in the pre-qualifications, vetting, and selection process for the award of DRC's valuable rare earth minerals mining concessions.

President Trump took joy in announcing the new pro-Trump fleecing agreements. Trump could barely contain his enthusiasm when he said:

"The United States is also signing our own bilateral agreements with the Congo and Rwanda that will unlock new opportunities for the United States to access critical minerals and provide economic benefits for everybody. And we'll be involved with sending some of our biggest and greatest companies over to the two countries, and we're going to take out some of the rare earth, take out some of the assets, and pay, and everybody's going to make a lot of money."

Rwandan and Congolese foreign ministers visited the White House in June to secure a peace treaty officially named the “Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity." Trump’s plan to fleece DRC and Rwanda of their rare earth minerals for the benefit of his family was hatched shortly after that meeting.

Making Donald Trump, Jr. a Trillionaire

A venture capital firm like 1789 Capital typically take 25% to 50% of the equity in the startup company that receives its investment funds.  Because Vulcan Elements' opportunity to mine rare earth mineral deposits lies in a recently-ended African conflict zone, its equity stake is likely on the high-end of the spectrum.

Vulcan Elements will likely partner with a European mining firm for the extraction of DRC’s $24 trillion in untapped rare earth mineral deposits.  European countries have centuries of experiences in raping African nations of their natural resources.

Using the White House as leverage, Donald Trump, Jr., is positioned to pre-sell all of the mined and extracted rare earth minerals to the U.S. military on long-term, multiyear, non-bid contracts worth trillions of dollars to 1789 Capital.  Vulcan Elements and its mining partners will likely win the government-awarded exclusive mining concessions contemplated under the separate U.S.-DRC bilateral agreement

The security agreement executed between President Trump, DRC, and Rwanda on December 4th commits U.S. troops on the ground to protect Donald Trump, Jr.’s rare earth mineral deposits, mining operations, the supply chain from Africa to the U.S., and his recurring revenues from the sell and delivery of these rare earth minerals to the U.S.

The framework documents, security assurances, and strategic partnership agreements signed between the U.S., DRC, and Rwanda on December 4, 2025, have Donald Trump, Jr., well on his way to trillionaire status. 

On the same day of the signing ceremony, DRC and Rwanda became the biggest losers on the African continent. They proudly and voluntarily ushered in Donald Trump's version of neo-colonialism seven years after Trump called their nations "Shithole" countries.

On December 4, 2025, President Donald Trump announced a rare earth minerals mining deal when Presidents Felix Tshisekedi (DRC) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda) signed agreements to provide U.S. companies direct access to their $24 trillion in untapped rare earth mineral deposits.

The other big losers in this deal are the American people who: (a) funded Vulcan Elements with a $620 million Department of Defense loan, (b) committed U.S. military forces to the region at taxpayers' expense, and (c) made it possible for Donald Trump to become a trillionaire with very little personal money in the deal. In return, they got no money out of the deal. This is a classic example of what happens with "Trickle Down" economics.