Trump administration equity portfolio grows. These are investments so far

The Trump administration has made unprecedented equity investments and obtained other stakes in at least 10 companies over the past year.

Many are in critical mineral companies as the White House plots a strategy to directly back mining companies to build a domestic supply chain and reduce dependence on China.

But the investments also include chipmakers and possibly a nuclear reactor company. In the case of U.S. Steel, the administration has taken a governance stake rather than a direct economic interest.

The number of investments is extraordinary outside of wartime or an economic crisis, said Scott Lincicome, a trade lawyer and a researcher at the libertarian Cato Institute.

And the administration’s portfolio could keep growing. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC last August that the government could take stakes in major defense suppliers, such as Lockheed Martin.

In the past, the U.S. has taken temporary stakes in companies in the context of bailouts, said Peter Harrell, who served as the senior director for international economics under President Joe Biden.

“With these companies, it’s a very different thesis,” Harrell said. “The government is kind of acting as a strategic investor to put capital into these companies so that these companies can achieve both a commercial return but also, at least in theory, some kind [of] national purpose.”

U.S. Steel

President Trump secured a “golden share” in U.S. Steel as a condition for approving Nippon Steel’s acquisition of the historic manufacturer.

The golden share is a governance stake that gives the president veto power over key business decisions. It is not a direct economic stake in U.S. Steel.

The president can veto decisions to close, idle or sell U.S. Steel plants. He can also block U.S. Steel from changing its name, moving its headquarters from Pittsburgh or relocating the company outside the U.S.

U.S. Steel stopped trading on the NYSE in June 2025 after becoming a subsidiary of Nippon.

MP Materials

MP Materials is a critical minerals company headquartered in Las Vegas that operates the only commercial rare earth mine in the U.S. at Mountain Pass in California. It has a market value of more than $10 billlion.

The Defense Department struck a landmark deal with MP in July 2025 that includes an equity stake, a price floor and an agreement to buy a portion of future output.

The Pentagon agreed to buy $400 million of preferred stock and is entitled to a warrant allowing it to purchase additional shares. MP said in July that exercising these options would give the Pentagon a 15% stake, positioning it as the company’s largest single shareholder.

Intel

The Commerce Department took a 10% stake in Intel in August 2025, buying 433.3 million shares of the chipmaker’s common stock at $20.47 per share.

Funding for the investment came from $5.7 billion of government grants under the CHIPS Act and $3.2 billion in federal awards under a program to make chips secure.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told…