admin
President Trump’s administration did what Washington for decades talked about and never actually did: it greenlit the 211‑mile Ambler access road in Alaska and put real capital behind American mineral security by taking a roughly 10 percent stake in Trilogy Metals. The federal investment is about $35.6 million and comes with warrants that could expand that ownership, a clear signal that this administration is willing to use strategic capital to break our dependence on foreign adversaries for critical minerals.
Wall Street reacted the way free markets always do when a government finally stops being timid and starts backing American industry — Trilogy’s shares exploded, more than tripling in some trading sessions as investors finally priced in the long‑blocked access to vast copper and critical mineral deposits. That market jump reflected not fantasy but a real change in the project’s viability now that permits and a road can move forward.
One prominent private investor who benefited was billionaire John Paulson, a longtime Trump supporter, who owned roughly 8.7 percent of Trilogy and saw the value of his stake surge by tens of millions almost overnight. Critics in the mainstream press howl about friends of the president getting richer, but Paulson took real risk buying an early, speculative position in a tiny miner and was rewarded when the federal government finally moved to secure American supply chains.
Let’s be blunt: America needs copper, cobalt, and rare earths to power our factories, defense systems, and the next generation of technology — and China already controls too much of that supply chain. This administration’s decision to use strategic capital and to reauthorize the Ambler Road reverses a destructive policy of paralysis that put sentimental wilderness politics ahead of national security and good jobs for Americans.
The usual chorus from green activists and partisan media that this is “crony capitalism” misses the point or chooses to ignore it; there’s a big difference between a government actively buying influence and a government investing, alongside private capital, to secure resources the Pentagon and industry both urgently need. If critics want to scream about donors getting windfalls, fine — but it was federal action that unlocked real value for everyone who had the courage to invest in American mineral independence.
This is a moment for patriots to cheer, not to scold. Building the Ambler Road and backing domestic miners is about jobs, supply‑chain sovereignty, and keeping vital industries in friendly hands — not kowtowing to foreign powers or letting idealistic NIMBYism strangle American manufacturing. If Washington keeps moving in this direction, we’ll see more private capital flow into projects that actually make the country stronger and freer.
