Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was on “Fox News Sunday” with host Shannon Bream to discuss trade and US global energy dominance. He also emphasized the importance of the US winning the arms race in AI.
“This idea of rare earth minerals. We get most of ours from them, and I know we have deposits here, but I was surprised to read that even some of what we mine here, we send to them for processing, and then it comes back to us. What can we do domestically to cut China out of that equation?” Bream asked.
“There is both the material and then the processing, and this began, back, you go back to Obama, Biden administration. We basically been at war with mining in this country,” Burgum said.
“Copper is key for electronics, it’s key for military uses,” Burgum said.
“You’ve called China the biggest threat to this country, so where do we go in this tariff fight?” Bream asked.
“I have a lot of confidence in President Trump to be able to negotiate deals. We’ve got one of the best negotiators, you know probably the best negotiating, he’s the only President we’ve ever had who literally wrote a book on negotiating,” Burgum continued.
Burgum also explained that China is vulnerable because it depends heavily on imports.
“We also have a lot of cards in our favor because China imports eleven and a half million barrels of oil a day. They import about 25 percent of the calories they consume every day,” Burgum said.
“We are an energy superpower, we are a food superpower and China is highly dependent, so we’ve allowed ourselves to become dependent on their supply chains for critical minerals. That’s the one piece that we’ve got to undo,” Burgum said.
Bream also discussed the importance of energy production for AI with Secretary Burgum.
“One of the things you guys are working on too is this issue of AI. The President has pressed really hard on that, and it’s not just the technology because we are doing that by leaps and bounds here, but it’s the energy production,” Bream said.
“Thermal coal produces electricity. Metallurgical coal includes the metals that we need for steel making,” Burgum said.
“Coal is persistent. It’s 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. When we’re talking about renewables, we are talking about things that are weather dependent,” Burgum continued.
Secretary Burgum explained that winning the AI arms race against China is vital to the security of the United States.
“This AI arms race, which is the existential threat. We cannot lose to China in an AI arms race. We are leading in tech, but they are leading in the electricity,” Burgum warned.
Watch:
WATCH: @SecretaryBurgum lays out the Trump administration’s vision for taking on China on trade and the war for global energy dominance. pic.twitter.com/1qOtwyb048
— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) April 20, 2025
