Despite the Trump administration’s tendency to label the energy transition a “green new scam,” it is actively pursuing a significant share in what is projected to be the largest lithium mine in the Western Hemisphere. In exchange for renegotiating the repayment terms of a 2.26 billion dollar Department of Energy loan, the administration is asking for up to ten percent equity in Lithium Americas. General Motors is a major investor in this company.
Reuters first reported the news on a Tuesday. A White House official stated that President Trump supports the project and wants it to succeed while also being fair to taxpayers, adding that there is no such thing as free money. This potential move follows a pattern of negotiations where the United States government has acquired stakes in companies like Intel and MP Materials.
Lithium Americas is developing the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada. The mine’s first phase is planned to produce sufficient lithium to manufacture as many as 800,000 electric vehicles annually. President Trump originally approved the permit for the project at the end of his first term, while the loan itself was awarded by the Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office during the Biden administration.
Last year, General Motors purchased a thirty-eight percent stake in Lithium Americas for 625 million dollars. This deal also granted the automaker the right to purchase the entire output of the project’s first phase and twenty years of production from its second phase. In total, this agreement would provide enough lithium for 1.6 million electric vehicles over the next two decades.
The Trump administration is now reportedly asking General Motors to guarantee those purchase commitments. This occurs even as the administration works to oppose automakers’ broader transition to electric vehicles.
A previous version of the headline incorrectly referred to Lithium Americas as an American company. It is headquartered in Canada.