The US is building a growing portfolio of investments in private companies, with President Donald Trump's administration signing 39 deals valued at $27.7 billion since January 2025.
These deals, according to analysis from the Council on Foreign Relations, have been shaped across several agencies in Washington, including the Commerce Department, the Pentagon and the Development Finance Corporation.
A separate report by the Cato Institute recorded 30 deals, but the conservative think tank did not include deals struck by the DFC in its own calculations, citing a 2018 law that authorised the DFC to make equity investments years before the second Trump administration.
Mr Trump has framed these agreements as being of vital importance to US national security. The administration's most prominent investment has been Intel, and the US government announced in August 2025 that it had taken a roughly 10 per cent stake for $8.9 billion in the computer chip designer and fabricator. The purchase was made with funding from $5.7 billion in previously unused grants from the Biden-era Chips Act.
Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan at the time said Mr Trump's focus on chip manufacturing was bringing significant investment to a sector that is vital to US “economic and national security”. The deal was struck weeks after the President called for the Intel boss's resignation on accusations of alleged ties to China.
While historic, the announcement also showed how the US government has been integrating equity deals into its investment arsenal that also includes loans and grants.
Minerals and metals
The administration has aggressively pursued ownership in minerals and metals companies as part of a broader push to shore up domestic supply chains to loosen China's grip on materials necessary to build out defence munitions and advanced technologies.
In July 2025, the Defence Department announced it was taking a $400 million equity stake in MP Materials as part of a public-private partnership. The department, through its partnership with MP, later that year established a joint venture with Saudi mining company Maaden that would build a rare earth refinery in the kingdom.
The Commerce and Energy Departments in January this year announced a $280 million deal with MP rival USA Rare Earth for up to $1.6 billion under the Chips programme.
Over the last year, the US government has also taken up stakes in the magnet maker Vulcan Elements, minerals exploration company Trilogy Metals and Lithium Americas, which is developing a massive lithium mine in Nevada.
Meanwhile, the DFC signed a $565 million loan agreement with Brazilian rare earths miner Serra Verde, which included the option to take a minority equity stake. The DFC this year also closed on its $600 million investment in the Orion Critical Mineral Consortium, a public-private partnership that aims to invest in critical minerals projects. The initiative is a joint effort with Orion Resources and Abu Dhabi's ADQ.
The Trump administration also announced a so-called golden share in its acquisition of US Steel/Nippon Steel under the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Semiconductors
In addition to its $8.9 billion stake in Intel, the US holds investments in 10 other semiconductor companies which it used under the authority of the Chips Act, according to CFR's analysis.
Among them is GlobalFoundries. The New York-headquartered company signed a letter of intent with the Commerce Department in January for a $300 million award to accelerate the development of next-generation silicon photonics. Abu Dhabi's Mubadala owns roughly 73 per cent of the semiconductor manufacturer.
The Commerce Department also used its Chips authority on investments in companies to hold non-controlling stakes in Aeluma, Extropic, I-Pulse and others. Aeluma, Extropic and GlobalFoundries were among the six chipmakers the US government added to its portfolio in July.
Other investments
In April, L3Harris announced its missile-making unit had closed a $1 billion strategic investment deal with the Defence Department. L3Harris said it will continue to hold a more than 80 per cent stake in the new missile solutions business.
And in August, the White House announced a deal with the US-backed North American Blue Energy Partners (Nabep), the second-largest private oil producer in Venezuela, and the interim government in Caracas. Under the agreement, Venezuela's interim authorities authorised Nabep 100-year concessions for 17 oilfields in the country.
The company has granted the Defence Department's Office of Strategic Control a 35 per cent equity stake in its corporate parent, according to the White House.
