From https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/health/zambia-hiv-aid-minerals-trump.html

Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe was Zambia's vice-president from 1967 to 1970, he was a childhood friend of Kenneth Kaunda and fought with him for independence, before opposing him in 1971 and being thrown in jail...

Back then he talked about Zambia's copper, while it's now more about cobalt and lithium the situation hasn't changed.

Beyond the usual goal of exploiting the third world, the u.s. also aim to contain/isolate China :

(If the video player doesn't work : https://files.catbox.moe/yg92ph.mp4)

The next step would be sanctions i suppose, the empire does what empires do.