Trump says Ukraine-US mineral deal to be signed today with Zelensky, will be used for AI, weapons

President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met in the Oval Office on Friday, where the leaders discussed the proposed mineral deal between the United States and Ukraine. Trump said that the deal will be signed later on Friday.

Trump said during the meeting when he was asked if the mineral deal will provide security for Ukraine, "As you know, our country doesn't have much raw earth. We have a lot of oil and gas, but we don't have a lot of the raw earth. And what we do have is protected by the environmentalists, but that can be unprotected."

He added that Ukraine has "among the best in the world in terms of raw earth. So we're going to be using that, taking it, using it for all of the things we do, including AI and including weapons and the military. And it's really going to very much satisfy our needs ... We have a lot of oil and we have a lot of gas, we have a lot but we don't have raw earth. So this, this has just about every component of the raw earth that we need for computers, for all of the things we do."

Trump said that he wanted to be remembered as a "peacemaker" and bring the Russia-Ukraine war to a close. During the Oval Office meeting, he also called on NATO countries and those in Europe to put in a greater effort to bring peace in the region.

"We’re committed to NATO, but NATO has to step up and the Europeans have to step up more than they have," Trump added.