A photo-op peace signing, a scramble for rare earths, and a conflict still raging on the ground.

Here’s what went down 👇

Read this if you’re tracking U.S.–Africa diplomacy, resource geopolitics, or Trump’s global dealmaking theater.

📍 What Just Happened

President Donald Trump is hosting Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Washington to ink what the White House calls a “historic peace and critical minerals agreement.”

The deal aims to:

• Push a ceasefire in eastern Congo
• Boost U.S. access to rare earth minerals
• Lock in American corporate footholds for critical mineral supply chains

It builds on a June framework brokered by the U.S., African Union, and Qatar.

Trump is touting it as another example of his “world peace” credentials,  and yes, he’s again invoking Nobel Peace Prize energy.

⚔️ Peace Deal… But the War Didn’t Stop

Despite the ceremony, fighting continues in eastern Congo:

• M23 rebels (backed by Rwanda, per the U.N.) still hold Goma and Bukavu
• Congolese troops + allied militias report new clashes this week
• Civilians say the situation on the ground has not improved

A resident in Goma summed it up:

“We are still at war… There can be no peace while the front lines are active.”

This isn’t a “sign and done” peace,  it’s a paper bridge over a live battlefield.

💎 The Rare Earths Angle

Here’s the part Trump cares about: minerals.

Eastern Congo holds huge reserves of:

• Cobalt
• Coltan
• Rare earth elements used in phones, jets & batteries

China dominates global rare-earth mining and processing.

This deal? A U.S. attempt to break dependency.

The U.S. Institute of Peace,  freshly renamed the “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace” — hosted the signing. Later, the Chamber of Commerce is gathering U.S. CEOs with Rwandan & Congolese delegations.

🧠 Why It Matters

This is foreign policy at the intersection of:

• Peace deals with shaky foundations
• A mineral arms race with China
• Trump branding diplomacy as personal victory laps

If conflict continues,  and experts say it will,  the U.S. may find itself forging mineral supply chains inside an active war zone.

🧾 The Bottom Line

Trump gets his televised “historic deal.”

Congo gets global attention.

Rwanda gets legitimacy.

But eastern Congo is still fighting today,  and a peace deal that doesn’t stop bullets is a peace deal in name only.