Afghanistan’s Taliban government has publicly invited the Trump administration to invest in the country’s vast mineral reserves, estimated at over $1 trillion. Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told the New York Times that the chapter of war has come to an end, urging Washington to view Afghanistan as an investment destination rather than a security threat. Since retaking power in 2021, the Taliban have awarded contracts worth over $6.5 billion for resource extraction, mostly to Chinese, Iranian, and Turkish companies. Any formal economic relationship faces significant obstacles including US sanctions, lack of infrastructure, and competition from China, which has secured a strong position in Afghan mining rights. The US spent roughly $2.3 trillion over 20 years of military involvement in Afghanistan, and previous discussions about mineral cooperation during the first Trump term never materialized into concrete agreements.
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