Executive Order orchestrated by Trump propels deep-sea mining sector; allows private ventures to exploit mineral-laden sediments beneath the ocean floor.
Heck yeah! Here's the skinny on that deep-sea mining business Trump's game-planning, huh? The old guy's gone and signed a secret executive order to ramp up this controversial deep-sea digging gig, y'all. It's all about chasing after some juicy minerals and metals buried deep beneath the ocean floor—pounds and pounds of 'em, they say.
The idea's to speed the mining process in both US territories and the global waters, apparently, as part of this push to challenge China's stranglehold on the critically important minerals industry.
Old Trump himself declared: “The United States has a darn good reason to keep naval jacks on vital seabed resources.”
The executive order's told the administration to get a move on with handing out permits under the Deep Seabed Hard Minerals Resource Act of 1980 and develop a streamlined method for doling out permits along the US outer continental shelf.
Now, the order's also called for a speedy review of seabed mining permits in waters outside US control, which ain't gonna sit well with our pals in the international community, probably.
White House reps claim deep-sea mining's gonna generate billions of metric tons of materials and inject $300 billion and 100,000 new jobs into the US economy over the next decade.
But it ain't all roses and moonbeams, see? Those environmental groups? They're shoutin' for all deep-sea mining activities to get shut down, warnin' of a potential biodiversity disaster.
Greenpeace's Arlo Hemphill spit out, "The U.S. government's got no right to let an industry rip up the deep sea for a few big corp's profit."
Deep-sea mining's a dirty job, targeting valuable stuff like polymetallic nodules from depths of 4,000 to 6,000 meters below sea level. These nodules pack precious metals, like manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, and nickel—stuff the defense, aerospace, energy, and tech industries need to function.
The race for these rare resources has become a hot political topic, with team Red, White and Blue squaring off against China, one of the US's largest trading partners and, apparently, a fierce rival.
Trump's executive order assigns the Commerce Secretary 60 days to speed up the process for reviewing and doling out deep-sea mining exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits in global waters beyond US control.
It's no secret that the ocean floor's a big ol' mystery—more of the moon's been mapped than the sea bed, y'dig? A chunk of the ocean floor's still unmapped, and it's starting to look like Trump's going to lead the charge into this uncharted territory.
The UN's International Seabed Authority's set regulations on deep-sea mining, but there's a catch—the US's a no-show, having never ratified any related agreements.
As things stand, the US's got the right to dig up the ocean floor within its territorial waters—up to 200 kilometers from shore. But Trump's pushing for a bigger slice of the deep-sea pie by invoking "the 1980 law that gives the feds the power to hand out seabed mining permits," as The New York Times puts it.
So far, recent efforts to mine the deep sea have targeted the island of American Samoa—a US territory in the Pacific Ocean. In February 2025, the California-based deep-sea mining company Impossible Metals asked the Trump administration to host a commercial auction for access to minerals in American Samoa's waters, which are under US jurisdiction.
Keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground, folks—they're about to start digging up the deep sea like there's no tomorrow!
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- The controversial deep-sea mining business is being aggressively pushed by the Trump administration, with a secret executive order signed to extract valuable minerals and metals from the ocean floor.
- The order aims to speed up the mining process in both US territories and global waters, a move likely to challenge China's dominance in the minerals industry.
- Trump declared that the US has a legitimate reason to maintain control over vital seabed resources, hinting at a potential geopolitical struggle over rare deep-sea minerals.
- The executive order instructs the administration to streamline the process for issuing permits under the Deep Seabed Hard Minerals Resource Act of 1980 and the US outer continental shelf.
- However, the global community may not welcome this development, as the order also calls for a swift review of seabed mining permits in waters outside US control.
- Deep-sea mining could generate billions of metric tons of materials and inject $300 billion and 100,000 new jobs into the US economy, according to White House representatives.
- Despite the potential economic benefits, concerns over environmental damage have arisen, with environmental groups like Greenpeace advocating for a complete halt to deep-sea mining activities.
- The race for rare deep-sea minerals like manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, and nickel has become a significant political issue, with the US engaging in competition with China, a major trading partner and rival.
