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His comments come shortly after Washington signed a deal with Kyiv to share the profits of Ukraine's rare earth minerals in return for future US security assistance.

In December, China banned the export of some rare earth minerals to the US, having previously limited mineral exports to the US the previous year.

He has been on the hunt for ways to mine rare earth minerals, which China effectively has a monopoly over, making this a key part of any deal with Ukraine.

It has had a military base there since World War Two, and Trump may also have an interest in the rare earth minerals that could be mined.

China dominates the production of rare earths and critical metals like cobalt and lithium.