Earlier this month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant flew to Ukraine.

He was there to meet with the country's president, Volodomir Zelensky.

And there was something specific Besson wanted to talk with Zolensky about.

And the account went like this.

Besson pushed a piece of paper across the table, which was a deal.

A deal for Ukraine to sign away to the U.S. rights to some of its mineral resources.

That's our colleague James Marsen, Ukraine bureau chief.

This scene is based on a description from a U.S. Republican lawmaker who spoke with Zelensky a few days later.

He demanded that Zelensky sign it.

Zlensky took a look and said he'd discuss it with his team.

Basson then pushed it closer to Zelensky and said,

you really need to sign this.

He then said that people back in Washington would be upset if Zelensky didn't.

Zelensky took the document and he didn't commit to signing it.

The Trump administration was asking for the rights to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Ukrainian mineral deposits.

It says the minerals would repay the U.S. for its military and financial aid to Ukraine during the war.

And now, the mineral rights have become a major focus for the Trump administration as it pushes to end the war.

What you see here is a microcosm of how Trump sees the world. We were giving this money to Ukraine for years.

But Trump has come in and said,

that's not how we're going to do things anymore.

We need something back for that.

We need something concrete back for that.

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