Highlights

• Snopes and DoD confirm Vulcan Elements received a $620 million Department of Defense loan to build domestic rare earth magnet capacity, one of the largest U.S. government commitments to a private critical-minerals startup.
• The loan targets 10,000 tonnes of U.S. magnet output and vertically integrated NdFeB processing, directly challenging Chinese dominance and reshaping the competitive landscape for MP Materials, Noveon, and other domestic suppliers.
• Political favoritism allegations remain unproven; DoD states Trump Jr. had no involvement in negotiations.
• Significant execution risk remains around Vulcan's unproven ability to scale metallurgy and manufacturing at commercial volumes.

A Snopes investigation confirms a headline that sent shockwaves across defense and critical minerals circles: Vulcan Elements — a rare earth magnet startup backed by 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner — secured a $620 million Department of Defense loan.

The DoD’s Office of Strategic Capital later corroborated the deal, noting a second loan of $80 million to ReElement Technologies to expand U.S. separation, metallization, and magnet-manufacturing capacity. Technically, the loans target exactly what the United States lacks: 10,000 tonnes of domestic magnet output and vertically integrated NdFeB processing.

What’s Real, What’s Noise

Snopes verified the core claim, including Vulcan’s own announcement. Allegations of political favoritism remain unproven, and DoD explicitly stated Trump Jr. had no involvement in loan negotiations — a detail often omitted in social-media outrage cycles. Yahoo’s Fact Check piece (opens in a new tab) confirms this.

Why It Matters for Investors

This is one of the largest U.S. government commitments ever made to a private rare-earth startup. If executed, Vulcan could become a major non-Chinese magnet supplier, directly altering the competitive landscape for MP Materials, Noveon, Quadrant, and USA Rare Earth.

But execution risk looms: no public data yet confirms Vulcan’s ability to scale metallurgy, alloy purity, or sintering yields at commercial volumes.

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