The US has secured access to one of the world’s largest undeveloped tungsten deposits in Kazakhstan, advancing President Donald Trump’s drive to reduce China’s grip on critical minerals, while a report by The New York Times says the deal was used by the families of Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for personal enrichment.
The agreement grants US-backed Kaz Resources a 70% interest in a major tungsten project in central Kazakhstan, with the state-owned mining firm Tau-Ken Samruk retaining the remaining 30%.
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If fully developed, the mine could produce about 12,000 metric tons of tungsten a year, roughly equivalent to total annual US imports of the strategic metal.
Often dubbed the “war metal,” tungsten is valued for its exceptional hardness and heat resistance, making it a critical material for missile warheads, fighter aircraft, armor-piercing ammunition, semiconductors and other advanced military-related tech.
China dominates global tungsten production and has tightened export controls on several critical minerals over the past year, intensifying Washington’s urgency to secure alternative supplies.
The Kazakhstan project is seeking up to $1.6 billion (€1.4 billion) in financing from the US Export-Import Bank and the US International Development Finance Corporation after receiving backing from the Trump administration.
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Company chairman Pini Althaus told the Times that Trump personally helped clinch the agreement with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during a call in September 2025, after months of negotiations led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The deal was formally signed in Washington in early November 2025.
Financial ties and conflict-of-interest
The Times reported that this diplomatic breakthrough was followed by a series of investments that stood to benefit people close to the administration.
Within weeks of the negotiations, investors linked to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump obtained an indirect 20% stake in a company connected to the Kazakhstan venture through Dominari Securities, a brokerage partly owned by the brothers, the newspaper said.
Around the same time, Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment bank controlled by the Lutnick family, helped raise $210 million (€184 million) for one of the project’s key investors, a transaction that typically generates millions of dollars in fees.
According to the Times, the Kazakhstan tungsten venture is one of at least 14 critical minerals projects with financial ties to the Trump or Lutnick families that have received or are seeking more than $8.9 billion (€7.9 billion) in US government support.
The White House rejected suggestions that government policy was shaped by private financial interests, telling the newspaper that the administration’s actions were driven by US national and economic security goals.
The Commerce Department said Lutnick had sold his ownership stake in Cantor Fitzgerald and had no involvement in discussions between the department and the firm. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. told the Times they had no role in negotiating the Kazakhstan project and described themselves as passive investors.
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