Americans are being gaslit as never before by the president, congress and the mainstream and financial media over the continuing trade disputes with China and the government shutdown, which is nearing a critical period, now having reached four weeks.
Everyone in Washington - and especially the Trump administration - was caught off-guard when China imposed restrictions on rare earth exports last month. China has the world's largest reserves of rare earth minerals and accounts for 90% of worldwide processing of the various metals that are significant in the production of automobiles, military weaponry, and electronics.
President Trump, his aides and administration, along with the mainstream media continue to promote the narrative that the president is going to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping "on the sidelines of the APEC" summit in South Korea. That's according to the president and his staff. China has made no formal statement that the two leaders are to meet this week or at any other time. If there was going to be an actual meeting of the minds, China would have arranged much more carefully-planned engagement than a “sideline” meeting between Xi and Trump.
Even if there is a meeting, it will have little to no lasting value and settle nothing between the world’s two largest economies.
There's the real possibility that China's leadership will not agree to a meeting with President Trump, by Xi or any other high-ranking officials. Treasury Secretary Bessent made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows, spouting off about "progress" and a "framework" for negotiations over trade policies, though nothing even remotely substantial has been announced.
At the ASEAN summit in Malaysia this weekend, Trump signed a variety of "deals" with various coutnries from Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Prime Minister Modi of India made a point of not attending the conference in person, expressly to avoid meeting with Trump.
These summits - ASEAN and APEC - are meetings of Asian countries. The United States is a sideshow. They were no doubt invited, but the U.S. plays no pivotal role in any trade relationship with any of these countries, other then the imposition of tariffs and sanctions against any number of them.
Asia and the BRICS have turned completely away from the West. Germany's foreign minister was told not to come to China, as there was nothing to discuss, according to Chinese authorities. A similar message is being telegraphed to Trump and the United States. Even North Korean president Kim has not extended any invitation to Trump.
Trump has also been falsely claiming that India has agreed to reduce the amount of oil it imports from Russia in response to recent sanctions placed on Russia’s two largest oil producers. Nothing could be further from the truth. He’s also suggested that China will be importing less Russian oil, though China has said no such thing.
Wall Street has been adding points and percentages to all-time highs on all of the major indices, pushing the narrative of a trade "deal" soon to be worked out between China and the U.S., despite evidence to the contrary. Meanwhile, congress has allowed the government shutdown to extend to the second-longest on record. Beginning November 1, funds for SNAP, or food stamps, will run out, shutting off roughly 42 million Americans from the program. This will affect every state, yet congress continues to drag its feet on the issue and others, such as pay for the military, air-traffic controllers and about 700,000 federal employees who have been working without pay since the shutdown began, October 1st. It's grandstanding at a high level, without any hint of being resolved.
Since Trump has been busily arranging "deals" on rare earth minerals with every country - including Australia - that he can find, Money Daily asked Bing's AI bot, co-pilot:
How long does it take to develop rare earth mines and develop processing facilities?
Here's what AI said:
Typical timelines — short answer:
Mine development: 7–15 years from discovery to first commercial production.
Processing facility (commercial scale): 3–10 years from permitting to full-rate operations.
Pilot or demonstration plant: 1–3 years to build and commission, used to de-risk commercial scale decisions.
Stages and typical duration
Exploration and resource definition: 1–5 years; includes drilling, assays, and resource modeling.
Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies: 1–3 years; engineering, metallurgy, and economic modeling.
Permitting and environmental review: 2–6+ years; dependent on jurisdiction, complexity of tailings/waste treatment, and consultation needs.
Financing and off-take/partnership agreements: 1–3 years; often runs in parallel with engineering and permitting.
Detailed engineering and construction: 2–4 years for a mine or processing plant; larger, more complex hydrometallurgical plants can take longer.
Commissioning and ramp-up to commercial production: 6–18 months for initial output; up to several years to reach steady-state recovery and product quality.
Major factors that lengthen or shorten timelines
Regulatory environment and permitting complexity — stricter regimes and lengthy environmental review add years.
Metallurgical complexity of the ore — unusual mineralogy or need for complex separations increases testing, pilot work, and design time.
Availability of capital and partnerships — secured financing and industrial partners accelerate schedules.
Local infrastructure and supply chain — remote sites without roads, power, or water require added construction time.
Community engagement and Indigenous consultation — meaningful consultation and agreements can extend timelines but are critical to project viability.
Policy support and defense/strategic programs — government incentives or strategic prioritization can compress timelines through funding and fast-track permitting
Benchmarks and recent examples
Pilot processing plants to re-establish domestic capability have been built and commissioned in roughly 1–3 years in the U.S. context.
National and regional strategies to create full processing hubs show multi-year to decade-long timeframes from project start to operational domestic supply chains.
Practical implications for planning
Budget for multi-year lead times and staged investments that move from lab tests → pilot plant → commercial plant.
Prioritize early metallurgical test work and pilot validation to reduce technical risk and accelerate permitting and financing.
Engage regulators, communities, and potential customers early to shorten non-technical delays.
Sources:
Center For Strategic & International Studies (CSIS)
Essentially, Money Daily is calling BS on all of this, in addition to the recent slaughter in gold and silver markets, just as both precious metals had advanced to record levels, out-pacing every other asset. While gold and silver have been slapped down, bitcoin and crypto are being heavily promoted in the media and online, with many of the usual carnival barkers, including President Trump's sons, Don Jr. and Eric touting their own crypto endeavors.
The U.S., $38 trillion in debt, hopes to repair the damage its done to itself by paying off the interest with stablecoins or some other form of crypto-currency while the rest of the world heads inexorably to money backed by gold and possibly, silver.
Stocks have been on a tear recently, and, with earnings season in full swing, gains on the S&P, Dow, and NASDAQ are heading for nose-bleed levels.
There will be hell to pay when no deal is made with China and 42 million Americans are deprived of benefits they've been receiving for years, in order to EAT.
The government is playing with marked cards. Americans will pay a heavy price for a government that has no concrete plans and politicians whose main focus is on enriching themselves and getting re-elected.
At the Close, Monday, October 27, 2025:Dow: 47,544.59, +337.47 (+0.71%)
NASDAQ: 23,637.46, +432.59 (+1.86%)
S&P 500: 6,875.16, +83.47 (+1.23%)
NYSE Composite: 21,789.63, +91.57 (+0.42%)
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