In 2016, the Arizona-based mining company Freeport-McMoRan made a deal to sell a site in Congo, which plays a significant role in China's control over the global cobalt supply. Cobalt is a crucial raw material for electric car batteries, essential for phasing out combustion engines and reducing reliance on fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. Perriello, a high-ranking US diplomat in Africa at the time, raised concerns within the State Department about this deal. Kapanga, the Congolese general manager of the mine, urged the American ambassador in Congo to intervene, warning that the Americans were jeopardizing years of relationship-building in Congo, the primary source of over two-thirds of the world's cobalt. Presidents starting from Dwight D Eisenhower had provided significant aid, including military equipment, to the mineral-rich nation, with interventions from Richard Nixon and the State Department under Hillary Clinton to maintain the relationship. Freeport-McMoRan had also invested billions before selling the mine to a Chinese company. The Chinese purchase of the Tenke Fungurume mine occurred during the Obama administration, and four years later, China Molybdenum also purchased a large cobalt reserve from Freeport-McMoRan during the Trump presidency. China’s strategic acquisition of Congo’s cobalt reserves has given it a significant advantage over the United States in the competition to dominate the electric vehicle industry. However, an investigation by The New York Times uncovered a history of cobalt deals in which the US failed to protect its interests, ultimately allowing China to control the resources. Perriello, a former government official, was made aware of the plan to sell Tenke Fungurume in 2016 and believed that American ownership would benefit both the US and the Congolese people. Freeport-McMoRan received positive feedback for their operations in Congo, including providing employment for thousands of locals, constructing schools, health care clinics, and supplying drinking water. Former assistant secretary of state Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who is now the US ambassador to the UN, was approached by Perriello for advice on keeping the mine under American ownership. Perriello also brought up the issue with the National Security Council. Despite the positive impact of Freeport-McMoRan's operations, the only potential buyers were Chinese companies, highlighting the importance of taking action. Kathleen L Quirk, president of Freeport-McMoRan, stated in an interview that they were able to complete the deal quickly due to their swift and efficient actions. Freeport-McMoRan was determined to sell, as the company had suffered significant losses in the oil and gas industry and accumulated a large amount of debt. The decision to unload its operations in Congo was a financial transaction with no significant American response. The country lacks oversight of American companies' transactions overseas. The crisis, which exposed significant blind spots in US leadership, was seen as an opportunity for the Chinese government to exploit, as revealed in previously unreported documents, emails, and interviews with various individuals in China, Congo, and the US. In the past year, the US government and private sector have been trying to recover from past mistakes and search for new cobalt sources, as well as use cobalt-free batteries in some electric cars. However, these efforts are not enough compared to China's aggressive actions to secure critical resources like cobalt and lithium for a green future. In 1970, Nixon was seen standing outside the White House with the first lady. President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, now Congo, was preparing to visit after a decade of independence from Belgium. As the leader of a country rich in natural resources, Mobutu held significant global influence. He not only controlled these resources but also played a crucial role as a mediator for the United States in preventing Soviet Union influence in Africa. Access to minerals and metals in Congo had been a priority for the United States since World War II, with Albert Einstein even writing to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1939 advising him to acquire Congolese uranium for the first atomic bombs. By the mid-1960s, the CIA had established an extensive operation in the country, funding mercenaries and Congolese troops to combat Soviet-backed rebels with the help of US warplanes. Mobutu, a former army sergeant who later became a corrupt dictator, viewed the Americans as an ideal partner in his efforts to increase the country's mining wealth. In pursuit of developing Tenke Fungurume, he approached a prominent New York diamond merchant named Maurice Tempelsman for mining rights, as revealed in declassified cables. However, just before his trip to Washington in August 1970, Mobutu surprised everyone by announcing that he had chosen a Belgian company to develop the mine. Washington went into a state of emergency as it attempted to regain control of the situation and was extremely generous in its efforts. According to American diplomat Herman J Cohen, President Nixon instructed his administration to fulfill any request Mobutu had. The US had already provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Mobutu and now Nixon agreed to give him multiple C-130 transport planes. The turning point came at a formal dinner for Mobutu at the White House, as reported by Cohen. After eating, Tempelsman took Mobutu on a private boat ride on the Potomac. News quickly spread that the Americans were receiving the mining concession. Mining engineer Mark Mollison from New York City embarked on a trip to Tenke Fungurume in southeastern Congo, where he found it to be an abandoned construction site. Mollison was surprised by what he saw. In the late 1990s, Mollison observed hilltops that had bare patches where copper and cobalt were visible. The ore was much more valuable compared to what was being mined in Arizona. Mollison was part of a new group of mining executives who had come to take over after the Tempelsman group had to withdraw from the project due to various obstacles, including rebels who had disrupted the transportation of the minerals. Kissinger, the secretary of state, had helped draft a message of apology to the Congolese government in 1976 for the project being put on hold. Years after Mobutu was ousted, interest in the region was sparked again when rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila took control of valuable land near Tenke and Fungurume. This led to a sense of optimism about a new era for Congo, attracting Western mining executives and their financial backers to the area. Kabila's representatives were able to secure financial commitments for mining access from the investors gathered at a hotel. A memo from a banker summarized Kabila's perspective as "Rules of the game: you give and I give." Lundin Group, a Canadian mining company, was willing to give $50 million to seal a deal with rebels. Mollison was tasked with evaluating whether his company, now known as Freeport-McMoRan, should partner with Lundin to continue the work started by Tempelsman at Tenke Fungurume. Freeport-McMoRan later touted this partnership as the largest private investment in Congo. Mollison wondered what the area would need, including electric power. There was a large amount of infrastructure, including roads and water sources, at the mine site. Freeport-McMoRan acquired a majority stake of 57.75%, Lundin had 24.75%, and Gécamines held onto 17.5%. Despite a civil war in Congo in 2007, the project began operations. Freeport-McMoRan engaged in a period of extensive construction, including building a highway for exporting cobalt and copper in Africa and refurbishing a hydroelectric plant at a cost of $215 million. Former employee Pierrot Kitobo Sambisaya praised the company's impressive developments, noting that it had created one of the most advanced and efficient cobalt and copper mines globally. Freeport-McMoRan made a major mistake by moving into the fossil fuel industry instead of focusing on mining. This decision led to the company accumulating a significant amount of debt after oil prices dropped. In 2016, CEO Richard Adkerson announced the sale of Tenke Fungurume, with China Molybdenum offering $2.65 billion as the top bidder. The executives at the mine, including Kapanga, who is the general manager and has experience as a Congolese presidential adviser and diplomat, were troubled by the news. Kapanga contacted the American ambassador, James Swan, expressing his concerns about the United States potentially letting go of its largest private investment in Congo, Tenke Fungurume. Swan declined to provide a comment to The New York Times. At that time, American diplomats in Congo were focused on persuading President Joseph Kabila to step down from office. After his father's assassination in 2001, he took control and spent the next 15 years embezzling millions from the public treasury. The sale of Tenke Fungurume was finalized in November 2016, but received limited attention in the US. President Trump's administration recognized the importance of challenging China's dominance in mineral supplies, specifically noting the sale of Tenke Fungurume in reports on cobalt and potential supply shortages. Nevertheless, history repeated itself as Freeport-McMoRan still possessed an undeveloped site that holds one of the world's most significant untapped sources of cobalt. Despite the company's announcement last year that it planned to sell the site, known as Kisanfu, there was little to no response from the US government. Nazak Nikakhtar, who was in charge of monitoring critical mineral supplies at the Commerce Department until January, expressed disappointment at the lack of attention given to the sale. The site was ultimately sold to China Molybdenum for $550 million, just before Trump's term ended. The most recent significant investment by the United States in Congo's cobalt and copper mines has disappeared.