The cynical choreography of empire follows a familiar script: first, a nation is shattered by war; next, the vultures descend to divide the spoils.
Trump’s so-called “Critical Minerals and Rare-Earths Deal" with Ukraine is not a repayment to the American taxpayer, nor a gesture of solidarity. It is the latest chapter in a long history of economic looting, a corporate raid masquerading as diplomacy.
Under this agreement, which is under negotiation, Ukraine would cede 50% of its revenues from its natural resources—oil, gas, and rare earth minerals—to a U.S.-controlled fund. The deal floated by Trump is intended to extract between $350-$500 billion—more than double Ukraine’s pre-war GDP. It's also far higher than the $182 billion that the US has allocated to Ukraine, of which $83 billion has been spent.
The terms are clear: This is not grounds for an alliance; it is subjugation, a model not unfamiliar to nations carved up by foreign powers under the guise of “aid.”
The deal’s pretense—that this plunder is necessary to reimburse American taxpayers—is a fraud. Ordinary citizens will see no benefit. The windfall will not return to struggling households or repair the social infrastructure of an America in decay. It will be absorbed by the same industries that bankroll Washington’s political elite—the fossil fuel conglomerates, mining giants, and defense contractors that turn war into a business model.
Trump’s terms amount to selling off the nation’s future to corporate interests, ensuring that even in “victory,” Ukraine remains shackled to the financial dictates of foreign capital.
This is not a deviation from American policy—it is its logical continuation. From Iraq to Afghanistan to Latin America, the formula remains the same: war, followed by privatization, followed by foreign ownership of the nation’s wealth. Trump is not introducing a new order; he is merely stating, with characteristic bluntness, what has always been true: the spoils of war belong to the highest bidder.
The American people will not profit from this arrangement, just as they did not profit from the trillions spent on Iraq and Afghanistan. The only beneficiaries will be the corporate interests that operate above governments, using war as leverage for profit.
Trump's "anti-war" bluster was never driven by a concern for humanity. This should be obvious given his colonial intent to "own" Gaza and turn it into a real-estate opportunity. It's a reminder that for him, and those like him, war is never about victory or peace—it is about control, profit, and the power to carve up the world as they see fit.
Politics
War & Peace